Displaying items by tag: Pakistan

Pakistan: Bestway Cement has published its first-half results for the 2023 Pakistan financial year, showing a 20% year-on-year rise in its gross turnover to US$222m from US$185m. Its cost of sales rose by 25% to US$110m, but failed to offset sales growth, resulting in 23% profit growth to US$44.5m from US$35.3m.

Pakistan: DG Khan Cement recorded sales of US$114m during the first half of the 2023 Pakistani financial year. The figure corresponds to growth of 8.5% year-on-year from US$105m in the first half of the 2022 financial year. Its cost of sales was US$97.4m, up by 82% from US$53.4m. Its profit was US$3.56m, up by 72% from US$2.07m.

Pakistan: Pioneer Cement's sales were US$95.7m in the first half of its 2023 financial year. This corresponds to a 19% year-on-year rise from US$80.2m in the first half of the 2022 financial year. The producer overcame 20% growth in its cost of sales to US$53.2m from US$44.2m, to record a profit after tax of US$6.72m, up by 54% from US$4.36m.

Pakistan: Kohat Cement has informed the Pakistan Stock Exchange that is has bought back 2.5% of its shares. The value of the transaction was US$191,000.

Pakistan: Bestway Cement has announced the successful commissioning of its Hattar cement plant's new 2.63Mt/yr Line 2. The line increases Bestway Cement's installed capacity by 21% to 15Mt/yr. It is equipped with a 9MW waste heat recovery (WHR) plant. The Nation newspaper has reported that the producer completed the project in under 15 months.

Hattar cement plant was Bestway Cement's original cement plant. It opened in 1998, with a capacity of 1Mt/yr.

Pakistan: Balochistan's local government minister has called for the cancellation of the allotment of a large area of land to a cement plant in Hub, adding that he would take the matter to court. Mohammad Saleh Bhootani said the Mines and Minerals Development Department had allotted 18,200 hectares of land that he says belonged to the people of Hub and Lasbela districts.

The allotted land comprises mountains, agriculture lands, hundreds of villages, farms and graveyards, he said, arguing that there was no justification for allotting such a vast area to a cement plant. Bhootani warned locals that fences would soon be erected around the site, forcing those that live there out of their homes. He urged Chief Minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo to “show mercy on the poor people of the area and cancel the allotment.” The minister said that if the allotment was not cancelled, he and the people of the area would take legal action.

The parliamentary leader of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal, Naseer Ahmed Shahwani, condemned the allotment and demanded the government withdraw its decision. 'If such practices continue, what will be the future of Balochistan?' he wondered.

Pakistan: A court has ordered a report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) into alleged breaches of emissions rules at Kohat Cement's Kohat Cement plant in Babri Banda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Dawn newspaper has reported that alleged dust and chemical emissions from the plant have contributed to a local rise in cases of cancer, asthma and lung diseases, according to complainants.

Residents have filed a petition for contempt proceedings against the EPA and Kohat Cement, as well as local and provincial government authorities. The court previously ordered the EPA to monitor Kohat Cement's emissions in 2018. At that time, it also instructed Kohat Cement to operate its electrostatic precipitators system at all times that cement is being produced. Local residents claim that the plant has continually failed to operate the system.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement has appointed Muhammad Sohail Tabba as its chair. It has also appointed Shabbir Hamza Khandwala as a director. Both appointments follow the death of former chair Muhammed Yunus Tabba in early January 2023.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement recorded sales of US$876m in the first half of its 2023 financial year, up by 42% year-on-year from US$616m in the first half of the 2022 financial year. It sold 3.57Mt of cement and clinker, down by 24% year-on-year from 4.7Mt. The producer's costs rose by 50% to US$585m from US$391m. It recorded a profit of US$73.1m, up by 6.8% from US$68.4m.

During the half-year period, total national cement sales dropped by 17% year-on-year to 20Mt, while Pakistan's cement exports fell by 49% to 1.7Mt. The aftermath of flooding, high interest rates, inflation and cost of goods and cuts to government spending all impacted the domestic cement market, while 'global recessionary trends' cut into exports, according to Lucky Cement.

Lucky Cement holds a 15% share in the Pakistan market and a 34% share in the export market.

Pakistan: Power Cement has awarded a coal supply contract to Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) on a trial basis. The Dawn newspaper has reported that SECM's locally sourced coal may subsequently replace imported coal in cement production at Power Cement's Nooriabad cement plant in Sindh.

SECMC produces 3.8Mt/yr of coal from the Thar coalfield. It has an extraction capacity of 7.6Mt/yr, which it plans to increase by 61% to 12.2Mt/yr with a new expansion phase by June 2023. SECMC said that this will lower the price of its coal by 36% to US$27/t from US$42/t. Currently, only Afghanistan is exporting coal to Pakistan, at a price of US$166/t.

Thar coal has a relatively low heating value, including by comparison to Pakistani coal from the western provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.