Cement export increase 5.60pc in 2 months

ISLAMABAD: The exports of cement from the country witnessed an increase of 5.60 percent during the first two months of ongoing financial year (2020-21) as compare to the corresponding period of last fiscal year.

The country exported cement worth US $ 44.540 million during July-August (2020-21) as against the exports of US $ 42.149 million during July-August (2019-20), showing growth of 5.60 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, the exports of cement increased by 29.35 percent by going up from 1,064,154 metric tons to 1,376,536 metric tons, according to the data.

Meanwhile, on year-to-year basis, the exports of cement increased by 28.93 percent during the month of August 2020 as compared to the same month of last year.

The exports of cement from the country during August 2020 were recorded at $21.585 million against the exports of $16.742 million in August 2019.

On month-on-month basis, the exports of cement however decreased by 5.85 percent during August 2020 as compared to the exports of $22.925 million in July 2020, the PBS data revealed.

The country trade deficit witnessed reduction of 8.32 percent during the first two months current fiscal year (2020-21) as compared to the deficit of the corresponding period of last year.

The deficit during July-August (2020-21) was recorded at $3.382 billion against the deficit of $3.689 billion, the data revealed.

During the period under review, the country’s exports registered negative growth of 4.27 percent, by going down from $3.744 billion last year to $3.584 billion during the current year.

On the other hand, the imports witnessed decreased of 6.28 percent, from $7.433 billion last year to $6.966 billion this year.