September 08, 2008

Lucky Cement to export cement to South Africa

The News reported that Pakistan’s Lucky Cement is optimistic about the expansion process of its first production line of 4,200 tonnes per day or 1.26 million tonnes per annum in its southern plant and plans to start producing clinker by November 2008, which will increase its annual cement capacity to 7.6 million tonnes per annum.

Recent positive development for Lucky Cement was the consent of South African authorities to import cement from Pakistan as it is facing a shortage of cement due to the upcoming football world cup in 2010. Pakistan can potentially export 9 million tonnes of cement to South Africa in the next 2 years. Lucky Cement is the only local cement producer that has received an export certificate from the South African Bureau of Standards.

Lucky Cement holds 39% of the total cement export market of Pakistan. It reaps the benefit of having plants both in the North and South regions, enabling it to export through both land and sea at low costs. It exports in bulk through sea to India, Middle East and Africa. The management of Lucky cement believes that commissioning of new capacities in Saudi Arabia and UAE will be less of a threat as the development of new cities will create incremental demand in the region.