Export links and environmental leaps: part one

Pakistan is considered to be one of the leading cement producers and exporters in the world. The country has 24 integrated plants with installed production capacity of 44.77 million t. This makes Pakistan roughly the 17th largest cement producer in the world.

Some 85% of Pakistan’s production capacity is located in its North Zone (Khyber Phaktunkhawa and Punjab), while the other 15% is in the South Zone (Sindh and Baluchistan).

Over the last decade, Pakistan has remained a leading exporter of cement to the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. According to recent trade statistics from the International Trade Centre (ITC), Pakistan exported around 8.78 million t of cement in 2014 – second only to China (10.1 million t) in global export index.

The Pakistani cement is particularly high in demand in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar. Amid tough export competition between the local players, Lucky Cement Ltd (LCL) has emerged as the leader with the largest export market share of 30% and with 2.4 million t of export sales.

History of Lucky Cement

In the 1990s, a number of private companies established manufacturing plants in Pakistan. Lucky Cement (LCL), was amongst the initial players. In the first 10 years, cement companies pursued aggressive expansion plans and doubled the industry capacity with an increase from 8.9 million tpa to 16.1 million tpa.

With seven production lines and an annual production capacity of 7.75 million t, LCL is one of the largest manufacturers of cement in Pakistan. Out of the two state-of-the-art cement plants, one is strategically located in the port city of Karachi. Its proximity to the port gives it an advantage of low transportation cost and timely loading/execution of export orders by sea. From the other plant located upcountry, the company caters to the local market and also exports huge volumes via road to Afghanistan and India. Over the years, LCL has exported its cement to more than 36 countries. The company is ISO 9001:2008 and 14001:2004 certified. It has gained the following additional product certifications over the years:

• Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

• Sri Lankan Standard Institute (SLSI).

• Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SONCAB).

• Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS).

• Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS).

• South African Bureau of Standards (SABS).

This is part one of a three-part article written by Lucky Cement for World Cement’s October issue and abridged for the website. Subscribers can read the full issue by signing in, and can also catch up on-the-go via our new app for Apple and Android. Non-subscribers can access a preview of the October 2015 issue here.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/asia-pacific-rim/28092015/export-links-environmental-leaps-part-one-675/