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Truck Stands Issued Notices To Cement Premises

District administration Peshawar has issued notices to the owners of all truck stands situated on Ring Road and other localities to cement their premises within a period of 15 days.

On the directives of the Deputy Commissioner (DC), Peshawar Mohammad Ali Asghar, the Assistant Commissioner (AC) Mathani, Rizwana Dar and Additional Assistant Commissioner (AAC) Town, Abdul Wali visited various truck stands on Ring Road and issued notices to them for cementing of their facilities, otherwise legal action would be initiated against them.

A spokesman of the DC Office has confirmed the issuance of such notices to the owners of truck stands. It said that during rain trollers and other vehicles take out mud with their tyres that increase environmental pollution.

PIBTL likely to become hub of cement/coal handling

The Directors of Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Ltd (PIBT) has released the detailed financial statements for the period ended 31 December 2019. During the period, Pakistan’s only coal and clinker/cement terminal at Port Muhammad Bin Qasim has handled 44.07Mt cargo against 39.66Mt in the same period last year. It depicts a modest growth of 11.1 per cent, with consistent performance.

The management of the company is focussing on strategies to increase the efficiency in cargo handling operations, to provide unparalleled services to its customers, said the terminal’s CEO Sharique Azim Siddiqui, in the half-yearly report.

PIBT has earned a net profit of PKR864m (US$5.43m) in 6MFY20 against loss of PKR1.4 bn in the same accounting period of last year.

A local research house expects the terminal to increase its profitability as soon as it is connected with railway line as per Pakistan railway plans to construct railway track to tie up PIBTL’s terminal with the railway network, subject to approval from the Planning Commission. Going forward, experts expect this will bode well for terminal utilisation for both coal and cement handling in addition that this will improve terminal use as it provides a more cost-effective solution to its consumers.

Coal demand from the cement sector likely to improve
Cement demand has increased by 6.5 per cent in 6MFY20, while momentum is likely to continue once construction of Dams and Naya Pakistan Housing schemes start to materialise. Similarly, coal demand from the power sector is also likely to increase once electricity demand increases from April onwards. It is estimated that Pakistan’s coal demand is likely to reach 32Mta, driven from both power and cement sectors in FY23.

Lucky wins MAP corporate excellence award

Lucky Cement Lt has won the Management Association of Pakistan’s Corporate Excellence Award in the cement sector category. Syed Noman Hasan, Executive Director of Lucky Cement Ltd received the award at the 35th MAP Annual Corporate Excellence Award Ceremony in Karachi on 9 March.

Syed Noman Hasan, Executive Director, Lucky Cement Ltd, remarked, “We accept this award with great pride and are extremely grateful to all our employees and stakeholders for helping us achieve repeated success over the years.”

He added, “Lucky Cement is determined to continue making efforts in elevating the company to new heights. We are firmly invested in meeting the needs of our stakeholders and ensure to follow prudent business practices with a wider objective of contributing to the economic growth of Pakistan.”

Lucky Cement received the award based on having the best corporate practices and governance in the cement sector. The primary criteria for this award emanate from best corporate and management practices as reflected by leadership, corporate governance, customer and market focus, human resources strategic planning and communication, social responsibility, risk management, IT infrastructure, service delivery and security.

CNBM resumes operations following coronavirus outbreak

China National Building Material Group (CNBM) has started to resume its operations in various sectors following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Priority has been given to activities related to epidemic control, according to the China Daily newspaper. Its plans are aligned with instructions from the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council to ensure stable production and operations to back the country’s economic development while preventing the virus from spreading further.

Zhou Yuxian, chairman of CNBM, said that the company is aiming at grasping ‘the first market share’ after the epidemic. The state-owned company intends to watch market demand and the reactions of companies from the upstream and downstream supply chain. CNBM also released guidelines of resuming work and epidemic prevention for different sectors earlier this month.

For its cement business, CNBM has urged the resumption of full production by subsidiaries related to life and medical waste handling. CNBM has asked its other subsidiaries to restart work gradually in different batches based on market demand.

Good indicators for cement industry in Pakistan

The Pakistan government’s intentions to lower the mark-up rates, encouraging cement dispatch data, a decrease in inflation figures and significant growing provincial export data have altogether renewed the investors’ confidence in cement sector scripts at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). 

Presently, Pakistan’s central bank SBP Policy Rate is 13.25 per cent per annum, making borrowing too expensive for manufacturers in the country. The cement industry, along with other stakeholders of manufacturing industries, have been appealing to the government to lower the interest rate as their profit margins turned negative in last financial results, due the high cost of sales, on account of high financing costs and other unavoidable factors.

Today, all major cement comapnies have shown a good number of traders/investors with good volume in stock and touching their upper limit.

Flying Cement and Dandot Cement post losses during 1HY19

Pakistani cement companies have been declaring losses or fall in profit during the last six months of the ongoing fiscal year of 2019-20 on account of falling revenue, high cost of sales and financing charges.

Flying Cement Co reported a loss after taxation of PKR293.4m (US$1.9m) during the half-year ended 31 December 2019 compared to a profit of PKR77.7m earned in the corresponding period last year. The key factor in the loss is the high cost of sales and reduced revenue during this period.

Company sales decreased by 48.1 per cent to PKR928m from PKR1.79bn in the same period last year. The company incurred higher administrative expenses of PKR34.4m against PKR27.9m and lower selling distribution costs of PKR3.3m when compared with PKR5.13m in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Dandot Cement Co posted a higher loss after taxation of PKR383m during 1HY19, compared to a loss of PKR177m in the corresponding period last year. The major factors responsible for the loss were lower sales and high finance cost.

The company sales decreased by 79 per cent to PKR153m from PKR741m in the same period last year. The company incurred a higher distribution cost and lesser administrative expenses to PKR3.581m against PKR2.781m and PKR20m against PKR28m, respectively, in the same period last year.