Displaying items by tag: Pakistan

Pakistan: The cement sector experienced a ‘substantial’ increase in earnings during the third quarter of fiscal year 2025 (from 1 January 2025 to 30 April 2025), according to a recent analysis of eight key producers. Collective earnings grew by a factor of 2.3 compared to the same period of the 2024 fiscal year (FY2024), primarily driven by an expansion in profit margins and dividend income from subsidiaries.

This came despite a comparatively modest 2% year-on-year increase in local cement dispatches, with the increased margin largely attributed to lower coal prices, alongside enhanced cost efficiencies and higher prices.

Looking forward, expectations are high for further margin gain. Rising cement prices, particularly in the north, are anticipated to support this trend. Additionally, continued low international coal prices are likely to benefit companies operating in the south.

Najmat Al Samawa Cement (NAS Cement) in Iraq announced this week that its second production line was successfully fired up on 13 May 2025. The new 5500t/day line was formally announced in May 2023. It joins the existing line at the site and should bring the plant’s total production capacity to around 3Mt/yr. The plant is a joint-venture between Pakistan-based Lucky Cement Limited and the Al Shumookh Company in Dubai and its representatives in Iraq.

Global Cement Magazine interviewed Intezar Ahmad, the Director of Operations at NAS Cement, in the November 2024 issue. He explained that China-based TCDRI was the main contractor for both the original and new lines. Equipment for Line 2 was also supplied by Fives Pillard, Loesche and IKN. Commissioning was scheduled for the second quarter of 2025. This, nicely, appears to be spot on. Lucky Cement added in its statement about the new line this week that it is also building a new 0.65Mt/yr cement grinding mill at the plant. This addition is expected to be commissioned during the second half of the 2025 calendar year. Lucky Cement also operates a cement grinding plant, under a joint-venture, in Basra.

The expansion at NAS Cement is by no means the only one as there have been a number of project announcements over the last three months. Germany-based Gebr. Pfeiffer revealed in late-March 2025 that it had won an order to supply a vertical roller mill for the Al Amir cement plant in Najaf. This contract was awarded through the China-based contractor Sinoma Suzhou. Commissioning is planned for the second half of 2026. Then, one month later in April 2025, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani made a statement launching ‘implementation works’ at four cement plants in Al-Muthanna Province. This included the 6000t/day Al-Arabi Cement Plant, the 6000t/day Al-Khairat Al-Muthanna Cement Plant, the 6600t/day Al-Samawa Cement Plant and the 6000t/day Al-Etihad Cement Plant. Al-Sudani also mentioned the start of commercial operations at NAS Cement’s second line. Subsequently, IVI Holding signed a US$240m deal with Sinoma Overseas in mid-May 2025 to build a 6000t/day plant in Al-Muthanna Province. Presumably, this is one of the projects that the government highlighted. Finally, the Kurdistan Region prime minister Masrour Barzani inaugurated the 6300t/day Dabin cement plant at around the same time. This last project was built by PowerChina together with a power station.

The Iraqi economy has been doing well in recent years. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported in May 2025 that the non-oil sector experienced “very strong growth” of 13.8% in 2023. This slowed down to 2.5% in 2024 due to a slowdown in public investment and in the services sector, and a weaker trade balance. However, the IMF noted that the agriculture, manufacturing, and construction sectors had remained resilient. Non-oil sector growth is forecast to remain subdued in 2025 amid a “...challenging global environment and financing constraints.” In its coverage of the new line at NAS Cement, Pakistan Today reported that the country has a notional cement production capacity of around 40Mt/yr but that many of the older plants have suffered from under-investment. Accordingly, the domestic market is around 25Mt/yr supported by state-funded housing projects, oil-field infrastructure schemes and reconstruction in Mosul. 3 - 4Mt of this is supplied via imports from Iran and Türkiye. The newspaper also noted the risk that all these new cement plant projects may face from variable gas supplies from the government. NAS Cement, for example, switched from heavy fuel oil (HFO) to gas in 2022.

Cement sector capacity expansion is coming in Iraq following a revived local economy. Risks abound though due to the country’s economic outlook, its dependence on oil and an geopolitical uncertainty. Yet money is being spent and new projects are starting to be commissioned. Onwards!

Pakistan: Power Cement will build a 7.5MW wind power plant using Goldwind turbines under a rental model, with commissioning targeted in the 2026 financial year.

The new facility will supply 11% of the producer’s energy demand. Power Cement currently sources 34% and 6% of its energy needs from waste heat recovery and solar, respectively. The company has a total cement production capacity of of 3.37Mt/yr.

Pakistan: Cherat Cement has submitted a proposal to Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP) to use municipal solid waste from the city as refuse derived fuel (RDF) under a public-private partnership. The company said that approximately 500t/day of waste is collected from Peshawar and currently dumped at a 1.6Mt capacity landfill. The initiative would replace coal in cement production and generate revenue for WSSP while tackling the issue of solid waste management.

Pakistan: Cement despatches rose by 13% year-on-year to 3.34Mt in April 2025, driven by an 8% increase in domestic sales to 2.52Mt and a 35% rise in exports to 0.83Mt from 0.61Mt, according to All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) data. Total despatches in the first ten months of the current financial year declined by 0.3% year-on-year to 37.3Mt. Domestic sales dropped by 6% to just under 30Mt, while exports rose by 29% to 7.36Mt.

Pakistan: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has introduced a new valuation mechanism for collecting sales tax on cement, effective 1 May 2025. Under the revised approach, the FBR will use the average national retail price of cement as reported in the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics' (PBS) weekly Sensitive Price Index (SPI). Average prices will be calculated just before the 1st and 16th of each month, with the values used to calculate taxes for the approximately two-week periods that begin on the corresponding dates.

FBR officials said the decision aims to prevent under-invoicing practices within the cement sector by aligning the taxable value with officially reported retail prices.
By using PBS data as the benchmark, the FBR expects to streamline sales tax collection and reduce revenue leakage in the cement supply chain.

Pakistan: The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has appealed to the Competition Appellate Tribunal to annul a US$22.6m penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) over alleged collusion and price fixing.

APCMA’s counsel argued that the sector operates competitively with price variation, and that the CCP failed to properly analyse the industry geography. He said a 2003 quota-sharing agreement had expired before the CCP ruling and challenged office raids as unfounded.

The tribunal has adjourned the case to 22 May 2025, when defence lawyers will present arguments. The CCP previously fined the APCMA and its member companies in 2009 after alleging market collusion.

Pakistan: Fauji Cement has launched a 26MW Ashar Navaid Solar Park at its Nizampur plant. The new solar facility will generate an average of 41,600MW/yr of renewable electricity.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement has successfully completed Pakistan’s first ever clinker shipment to Brazil. Senior export manager Rafique Ahmed posted the news on social media, saying that the company had now ‘expanded [its] global footprint’ and strengthened Pakistan's presence in international markets.

Pakistan: Total cement despatches, including domestic sales and exports, fell by 9% year-on-year to 3.57Mt in March 2025, according to the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association. Domestic sales dropped by 11% to 2.96Mt, while exports remained stable at 0.61Mt. North-based plants recorded an 85% year-on-year fall in exports to 0.019Mt from 0.12Mt. South-based plants increased exports by 23% to 0.59Mt from 0.48Mt a year earlier.

Between July 2024 and March 2025, total despatches declined by 1% year-on-year to 34Mt. Domestic sales dropped by 7% to 27.5Mt, while exports rose by 28% to 6.53Mt.