Trade Chronicle March - April 2017

TRADE CHRONICLE
Cement Industry
Lucky Cement inaugurates fifth Waste Heat Recovery Plant
Lucky Cement Limited inaugurated its
fifth Waste Heat Recovery plant earlier
this year in Pezu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The inauguration ceremony took place
on 15th February 2017 and was
attended by Mr. Muhammad Ali Tabba,
CEO, Lucky Cement Limited, and other
senior management of Lucky Cement.
Previously, Lucky Cement had four
Waste Heat Recovery Plants, two in
Pezu and two at the Karachi Plant. The
fifth plant, in collaboration with
Sinoma Energy Conservation Ltd,
China, became operational last month.
Under this project, two cement
production lines with a daily output of
2,400 tons were used, which will offer
an installed power of 10 megawatts.
The design of these plants hinges
around the idea of
encapsulating all the
wasted heat from the
production system
and using this heat to
generate steam from
b o i l e r s w h i c h
eventually run the
turbine engines, thus
producing electricity.
Speaking on the
o c c a s i o n , M r .
M u h a m m a d A l i
Tabba, CEO Lucky Cement Limited,
said, “We, being one of the leading
cement manufacturers in Pakistan, have
the responsibility to reduce energy
consumption and improve the
environment. With the launch of our
fifth WHR plant, we aim to do just that.”
CEO Mr Mohammad Ali Tabba cutting the ribbon at
Inauguration of the new WHR at Pezu along with Executive
Director Mr. Noman Hasan and Director Operations Mr.
Mohammad Shabbir
He added that “Our WHR plant has
not only significantly reduced cost
by co-generating electricity, it also
helps lower dust emissions and
environmental effluents thus having
a p o s i t i v e i m p a c t o n t h e
atmosphere.”
Cement despatches decline
in February 2017
In spite of cement consumption having
rebounded in the domestic market in
February; the industry registered a
negative growth for the first time this
fiscal due to the massive decline of 45
percent in exports.
Total cement consumption in February
2017 was 3.435 million tons that is 0.41
percent less than the consumption of
3.449 million tons during the
corresponding month of last year. The
domestic cement consumption in
February was 3.181 million tons out of
which 2.580 million tons was
despatched by the North based cement
mills and 0.601 million tons was
despatched by cement mills located in
the Southern part of the country. The
increase in domestic consumption was
6.69 percent. Exports in February stood
at 0.254 million tons that is 45.69
percent less than exports achieved in
February 2016.
In the first eight months of this fiscal the
country despatched 26.339 million ton
cement showing an overall growth of
6.36 percent over the corresponding
period of last fiscal. During this period
the domestic consumption increased by
9.12 percent but exports declined by
8.54 percent. It is worth noting that the
cement consumption during July-
February period of this fiscal increased
by 8.26 percent in the North and by
13.15 percent in the Southern part of the
country. In contrast the exports from
North declined by only 2.98 percent
compared with a decline of 18.21
percent in the South. This should be a
matter of concern for the authorities
because in the past the South based
mills being nearer to sea were leading
cement exporters.
Spokesman of APCMA said that
Clinker and Cement are being
manufactured locally and are
abundantly available in Pakistan. It is
surprising to note that the list of locally
manufactured goods as notified by the
Federal Board of Revenue vide Custom
General Order no. 11 of 2007 dated
August 28, 2007, does not include
cement. Secondly, the import of clinker
and cement is liable to 10% and 20% of
customs duty and due to cheap energy
TRADE CHRONICLE - Mar .~April. 2017 - Page # 27
cost in neighboring countries; lowgrade
quality cement is being dumped
in the Pakistani market.
It is urged to increase the customs duty
on import of clinker and cement from
10% & 20% to 35% in order to support
the local manufacturers and imports
of cement should not be allowed until
exporters have registered themselves
with Pakistan Standards and Quality
Control Authority (PSQCA) and
PSQCA certified the quality of
cement, just as being done by India
and all other importing countries'
authorities.
Pakistan has already lost a major chunk
of its market in Afghanistan to Iranian
cement. The high energy cost has made
the cement more expensive as cement
is an energy intensive sector. The cost
of electricity and gas in Pakistan is the
highest in the region while additional
duties on coal imports have nullified
the lower cost of coal in the global
markets. On the domestic front high
government levies have encouraged
some unscrupulous elements to
smuggle or import under invoiced
Iranian cement.