Uncertainty over Afghanistan’s future as an export market

The post-NATO future of Afghanistan is creating an aura of uncertainty for the Pakistani cement industry, which has been a major supplier to Afghanistan’s construction industry. Though recent reports indicate that Iranian cement exports to Afghanistan are creeping up, the real concern is that once NATO troops have left Afghanistan, the country may return to an early-2000s security scenario in which there was little to no construction activity. Afghanistan currently spends around US$1 billion per year on cement imports – that’s quite a market to lose.

An alternate scenario – and a happier one – would be that the Afghan government initiates a recovery programme that boosts cement demand. As if to indicate that this is the intention, the government has issued tenders for three cement plants, though the last word on these was that the aforementioned uncertainty was discouraging investment.

Edited from various sources by Katherine Guenioui

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/africa-middle-east/02122013/pakistani_cement_exporters_concerned_over_afghanistan_post_nato_470/