Pakistan is set to export cement to the United States for the first time ever. This is a major milestone for Pakistan’s cement industry, which has been growing rapidly in recent years.
For the first time in Pakistan’s history, DG Khan Cement Company (DGKC) Limited, one of the country’s largest cement manufacturers, will export cement to the United States, reported Bloomberg.
“A ship, Tomini Felicity, is presently loading cement at KPT in 1.5 tonnes jumbo bags destined for Houston, Texas USA,” Fareed Fazal, DG Khan director, said.
The demand for Pakistani cement in the United States is expected to be strong, due to the country’s large construction sector. This will be a major boost for Pakistan’s economy, as cement exports are a major source of revenue for the country. It is noteworthy that as of May 2022, cement sales contracted 15.85 percent to 3.32 million tons compared to sales of 3.94 million tons in the corresponding period last year.
The development comes at a time when the country’s exports registered negative growth of 10.22% on a monthly basis in May 2022, clocking in at $2.6 billion from $2.897 billion in April 2022, according to latest figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
D.G. Khan Cement, one of Pakistan’s largest cement makers, posted a 26% higher profit during the nine-month period that ended March 31, 2022 with earnings amounting to Rs4.1 billion. The company had posted earnings of Rs3.25 billion in the same period of 2020-21.
In 2020, DG Khan Cement won orders for export of cement to the Philippines.
“This is a great opportunity for Pakistani cement manufacturers to explore a new established, stable market of cement. Previously, Pakistan has only been in unstable regional markets of Afghanistan, India, and Bangladesh, with some supplies to Africa,” Fazal said, adding that the US was the biggest and sophisticated market with huge potential.
