ISLAMABAD: The exports of cement from the country witnessed a decrease of 6.91 percent during the first month of the current fiscal year against the corresponding month of last year.
Pakistan exported cement worth $20.964 million during July 1018 against the exports of $22.521 million in July 2017, according to trade data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
In terms of quantity, the cement exports from the country, however, witnessed an increase of 10.89 percent by going up from the exports of 428,489 metric tons in July 2017 to 475,134 metric tons in July 2018.
Meanwhile, on a month-on-month basis, the cement exports in July 2018 increased by 28.5 percent when compared to the exports of $16.315 million in June 2018.
In terms of quantity, the cement exports increased by 28.59 percent in July 2018 when compared to the exports of 369,506 metric tons in June 2018, the data revealed.
It is pertinent to mention here that the overall merchandise exports from the country witnessed an increase of 1.17 percent by reaching to $1.646 billion in July 2018 from the exports of $1.627 billion in July 2017.
The imports into the country during the month under review witnessed an increase of 0.6 percent by growing from $4.809 billion last July year to $4.838 billion.
Based on the figures, the trade deficit during the first month of the current year increased by 0.31 percent by growing from the deficit of $3.182 billion last July to the deficit of $3.192 billion during the July 2018.