Cement export decreases 0.43pc in five months

ISLAMABAD: The exports of cement from the country witnessed decrease of 0.43 percent during the first five months of financial year (2020-21) as compare to the corresponding period of last fiscal year.

The country exported cement worth US $123.672 million during July-November (2020-21) as against the exports of US $124.200 million during July-November (2019-20), showing negative growth of 0.43 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, the exports of cement however rose by 15.11 percent by going up from 3,238,466 metric tons to 3,727,901 metric tons, according to the data.

Meanwhile, on year-to-year basis, the exports of cement dipped by 39.15 percent during the month of November 2020 as compared to the same month of last year.

The exports of cement from the country during November 2020 were recorded at US $ 18.127 million against the exports of US $ 29.791 million in November 2019.

On month-on-month basis, the exports of cement also decreased by 45.48 percent during November 2020 as compared to the exports of $33.249 million in October 2020, the PBS data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s merchandize exports increased by 2.21 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The exports during July-November (2020-21) were recorded at US $ 9.747 billion against the exports of US $ 9.536 billion in July-November (2019-20), showing growth of 2.21 percent according to PBS data.

The imports during the period under review also increased 1.63 percent by going up from US $ 19.175 billion last year to US $ 19.487 billion during the current fiscal year.

Based on the figures, there has been slight increase of 1.05 percent in the trade deficit during the period under review as it was recorded at US $ 9.740 billion as compared to the deficit of $9.639 billion during last year.