Pakistan cement industry is listed in one of the few industries which existed in the Pakistan before the sub-continent partition. The Pakistan cement industry existed because of the reason that there was availability of the raw materials at that time too. Pakistan has unlimited reserves of the lime stone and the clay. And due to these inexhaustible reserves in Pakistan the cement industry of Pakistan is supported for many years like 50-60 years. The yearly production of the cement at the time of Pakistan’s formation was only 300000 tons per year.
Cement Industry Marketplace in Pakistan
Pakistan is the country that is rich in the deposits of gypsum, shale and lime stone. These three (lime stone, gypsum and shale) are the main ingredients which are used for the production of the cement.
As the mining cost of these deposits is around 100 tons or we can say that it is 6 % of the total cost of manufacturing. So we can say that cement is highly value added product and cement must be given its owing importance.
There are five types of cement that are manufactured in the cement industry of Pakistan. These types are ordinary port land cement, slag cement, sulphate resistant cement, super sulphate resistant cement and white cement.
The manufacturing process of the cement can be of any three types that are wet process; semi wet process and dry process. Wet process of manufacturing cement is the method of manufacturing that is due to the heating of poor kiln and greater requirements of water. Semi wet process of manufacturing cement is the process which is not so popular because of usage of fuel at a high level and larger energy consumption. Dry process of manufacturing cement is the manufacturing process of the cement which is suitable for the materials with the low content moisture. Dry process uses less fuel than wet process. It also has less maintenance requirements and greater kiln efficiency due to the facility of pre heating and low level setup of kiln and costs of maintenance.
Pakistan Cement Industry
Cement industry of Pakistan has many characteristics. The cement which is produced in Pakistan by many different manufacturers is of the same quality and of same standard and due to this reason consumers of the cement do not distinguish any single difference in the cement that is produced b y the various manufacturers of cement hence, the cement market is oligopolistic.
The cement industry of Pakistan is characterized by the requirement of the system of distribution. Cement industry of Pakistan follows the distribution function. Before the privatization the cement industry of Pakistan was highly regulated.
There can be few recommendations which may used to improve the current situation of the cement industry of Pakistan. The wet process technology is outdated so there is need to manage and improve the facilities of the production. There is also need to adopt the liberalization policy which will surely help and will work for the local industries.