The industry comprises of 29 firms (19 units in the north and 10 units in the south), with the installed

production capacity of 44.09 million tons. The north with installed production capacity of 35.18 million tons (80 percent) while the south with installed production capacity of 8.89 million tons (20 percent), compete for the domestic market of over 19 million tons. There are four foreign companies, three armed forces companies and 16 private companies listed in the stock exchanges. The industry is divided into two broad regions, the northern region and the southern region. The northern region has around 80 percent share in total cement dispatches while the units based in the southern region contributes 20 percent to the annual cement sales. Cement industry is indeed a highly important segment of industrial sector that plays a pivotal role in the socio-economic development. Since cement is a specialized product, requiring sophisticated infrastructure and production location. Mostly of the cement industries in Pakistan are located near/within mountainous regions that are rich in clay, iron and mineral capacity. Cement industries in Pakistan are currently operating at their maximum capacity due to the boom in commercial and industrial construction within Pakistan.

Cement is one of major industries of Pakistan. Pakistan is rich in cement raw material. Currently many cement plants are operating in private sector. Pakistan Cement Industry has huge potential for export of cement to neighbouring countries like India, U.A.E, Afghanistan, Iraq & Russian States. There has been a robust growth of cement demand seen both in domestic and exports market during the financial year ended June 30, 2007. The industry achieved an overall growth of 32% with domestic demand of cement increased by 24.95% whereas the exports increased by 111.86%. The overall growth achieved by many cement factories for the year under review was 111.29% consisting of domestic and export markets at 71.02% and 335.12% respectively.