Pakistan being the fifth most populous country in the world, the construction sector plays a vital

role in the economic development of the country. We see that there are many companies

operating in the construction sector be it public or private. However, the major players include:

1. National Highway Authority (NHA) was established by the Act of Parliament with the

motive of planning, developing, repairing maintaining and operating the national

highways and more important highways assigned to the NHA by the government. NHA

operates about 39 national highways, that transports about 80% of the commercial traffic.

It behaves like the backbone of the transportation infrastructure and has a significant role

in both macro and microeconomic growth of Pakistan.

2. Frontier Works Organization (FWO) is another important organization responsible for

the construction of one of the most important highways that is the Karakorum Highway.

Not only this FWO contributes to the development of communication and transport

networks that includes the building of streets, airports train lines. Moreover, it is

responsible for the construction of dams, rivers and much more.

3. another well known player in the construction sector is the Sardar Group of Companies

famous for their luxury living sectors. Centaurus Mall in Islamabad is a project of the

Sardar group, and are working on Centaurus mall 2 in taj residencia a housing project in

the capital.

4. Habib Rafique Pvt. Limited is a well-known name in the housing and infrastructure and

real estate development along with powerhouse construction. Recently it can be seen

involved in significant projects like the Lahore smart city and the capital smart city.

When talking about cement, Pakistan is the 11th largest exporter of cement in the world

as per the statistics of 2020. Conversely, its contribution to the world market is 2.3%,
which is negligible. First thing is that Pakistan already has some footing in the

international market and has to improve it. The World’s largest exporter and consumer of

Cement are China, which currently has very strong ties with Pakistan. Pakistan can

export cement to the areas of China which are connected by the Pakistani border and use

Pakistan’s cement in Chinese projects going over in Pakistan majorly CPEC (China

Pakistan Economic Corridor).

Pakistan exported its cement to Afghanistan, India, Oman, and South Africa. South

Africa banned Pakistani cement imports due to anti-dumping charges. The ban has been

lifted recently on 17 December 2020, Pakistan can again export its cement to South

Africa as the major raw material coal is imported from South Africa, which depicts some

relations within the industries of both countries. The construction market of South Africa

can be exploited as 20-30% of Pakistan’s cement exports were to South Africa in 2015-

16, which would be assessable now. The ties with Afghanistan had been improving but

the betterment process has been halted due to the current incident related to the abduction

of Afghanistan’s Ambassador’s daughter in Pakistan. Moreover, Afghanistan is a

neighboring country but it is also subject to cheap Iranian cement competition but can be

exploited by further diversification in prices and quality. India is also a potential country

to export; continuous efforts are on the way to improve relations with India. Pakistan had

been exporting cement to India but the exports have decreased due to current unhealthy

political relations resulting in heavy import tariffs on Pakistani goods.

Pakistan also exports clinker which is a raw material in cement production. Bangladesh is

highly dependent on Pakistani clinker as exports of clinker to Bangladesh accounted for

76% of Pakistan’s clinker exports. The demand from Bangladesh is steady and expected

to increase with the growing population and non-availability of indigenous raw material

locally. However, exporting clinker is not that profitable as exporting cement due to less

value addition. Bangladesh also imports cement; Pakistan could give attractive packages

for cement export to Bangladesh to capture its market and increase cement exports.

The cement sector can improve its footing in the international market by firstly increasing

its production which is already anticipated. According to All Pakistan’s Cement

Manufacturing Association (APCMA), Pakistan's cement production capacity would

increase from 69 million tonnes to 99 million tonnes, which equals a 40% increase in

production capacity in upcoming years. Capacity is gradually increasing yearly, which

can be seen in the bar chart below. This increase in capacity would primarily increase the

domestic consumption of cement per person. Pakistan’s per-person consumption of

cement is on average 182 kgs, while the world average consumption is 500kgs.

Moreover, the excess yield of cement could be exported and the overall share in world

cement export could be increased.

References

https://invest.gov.pk/housing-and-construction

https://sigmaproperties.com.pk/top-construction-companies-in-pakistan/