The dispatch pattern of previous six months has been maintained by cement sector. Although, the Northern region excelled in domestic dispatches but performed poorly in exports while the Southern region did counter. According to statics, in December, the cement dispatches increased by 10.69 percent to 4.306 million tons with more than a percent increase from last year. The domestic consumption increased by 7.16 percent to 3.536 million tons in December 2019, almost doubled as compare to 2018. While the dispatch statics in the Northern part of the country dispatched 3.172 million tons and South based cement mills dispatched 1.135 million tons in December 2019, 9.24 percent with a decline of 0.572 million tons in December 2019 as compared to 2018. The first six month turned out favorable as the cement dispatches in the country increased 6.51 percent to 24.751 million tons against 23.239 million tons dispatched. The domestic consumption registered an increase of only 3.54 percent to 20.373 million tons that was 19.677 million tons while exports increased by over 22 percent to 4.377 million tons from 3.561 million tons in last year. From local market, the cement dispatched by both Northern and Southern mills are 17.406 million tons and 2.967 million tons respectively. The exports are 1.420 million tons registering a decrease of 3.85 percent from Northern side while the Southern side almost matched the local consumption in that region with 2.957 million tons recording an impressive growth of 41.87 percent. The statement given by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturer Association narrated that the industry is sitting on a huge unutilized capacity as it will dispatch just over 47 million tons cement this year at this rate against an installed capacity of 59.65 million tons. This situation will not trigger any investment and expansion in the industry and employment in the sector will gradually decrease. A compendium of above is that government should start working on PSDP and announced housing projects which will boost the contribution of the construction sector and job opportunities for skilled and unskilled labor.
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