KARACHI, Aug 6: Cement sales in the first month of the new fiscal year saw a decrease of 1.64 per cent compared with the despatches in the same month last year (year on year), a spokesman for the All-Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association said on Monday.

He however, did not give comparative figures with June 2012 (month-on-month) basis.

The local cement despatches were said to have increased nominally by 1.47 per cent in July 2012 to 2,054,213 tons compared with 2,024,407 tons in July 2011.

However, exports suffered a sharp drop. The overall exports declined by 9.23 per cent year-on-year. In July last year, the total cement exports were 831,785 tons that receded to 755,010 tons in July this year.

Exports to Afghanistan were down by 10.37 per cent to 455,897 tons, while exports to other destinations through sea slipped by 6.16 per cent to 244,880 tons in July 2012.

The APCMA spokesman pointed out that the electricity crisis and rains badly affected the domestic market in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkwa.

Dispatches from the North based mills increased by 0.71 per cent while the despatches of the South based mills registered an increase of 4.22 per cent.

The sluggish construction activities in Northern region are a source of concern for the cement industry because bulk of the capacity is located in the North", APCMA stated.

Exports by the mills in the Southern zone stood down by 17.84 per cent in July 2012 compared with the corresponding month last year.

Cement exports by mills located in Northern zone declined by 7.02 per cent "mainly because of high freight cost for export by sea", APCMA stated.