As anticipated, Coronavirus has its impact on domestic consumption of cement. It has declined by 16.70 per cent in March while the exports grew at 5.27 per cent as the global markets are equally under pressure due to the same reason. A statistical data compiled by the APCMA for March 2020 shows that the industry dispatched 3.721 million tons of cement. Exports however crawled up from 0.482 million tons last in March 2019 to 0.507 million tons this March 2020. North based mills dispatched 2.749 million tons locally, which was almost 10.48 per cent lower than the dispatches of 3.017 million tons during the corresponding month of last monetary. Southern region of the country reported a decline in domestic dispatches by 40.96 per cent, as it fell from 0.787 million tons in March 2019 to 0.464 million tons in March 2020. The cement industry experts discoursed that if the lockdown extended till April 14 which means that the economic activities would remain further passive, the industry is hoping to get some relief package from the government as managing dispatches is becoming extremely difficult with each passing day. The prime minister’s incentive package for the construction industry will help to increase the cement consumption in the country. The APCMA spokesman stating on the situation added that overall, in the first nine months of this fiscal the industry managed to dispatch 37.035 million tons of the cement that is 7.06 per cent higher than 34.593 million tons of the commodity dispatches during July-March 2018-19.
