ISLAMABAD         -           The cement exports witnessed decrease of 5.27 percent during the first five months of current financial year (2019-20) as against the exports of corresponding period of last year (2018-19).

Pakistan exported cement worth $124.204 million during July-November (2019-20) against the exports of $131.118 million during July-November (2018-19), showing decline of 5.27 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, the exports of cement increased by 6.56 percent from 3,246,669 metric tons to 3,046,771 metric tons, according to the data.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the cement exports however witnessed increase of 11.27 percent during the month of November 2019 as compared to the same month of last year.

The cement exports in November 2019 were recorded at $29.794 million against the exports of $26.776 million in November 2018, the PBS data revealed.    

On month-on-month basis also the export of cement increased by 7.80 percent in November 2019 as compared to the exports of $27.637 million in October 2019.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country's merchandise trade deficit plunged by 33.04 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year (2019-20) as compared to the deficit of the same month of last year.

 The trade deficit during July-November (2019-20) was recorded at $9.668 billion against the deficit of $14.439 billion during July-November (2018-19), the data revealed.

 The exports during the period increased from $9.109 billion during last year to $9.545 billion during the current fiscal year, showing growth of 4.79 percent.

On the other hand, the imports into the country witnessed decline of 18.41 percent by falling from $23.548 billion last year to $19.213 billion during the current fiscal year, the data revealed.