Pak's DG Khan Cement eyes Indian market

Pakistan's top cement producer DG Khan Cement (DGKC) is eyeing the Indian market to sell its surplus output after a new plant starts production next month, a top company official said.

DGKC will increase its production by 7,000 tonnes per day to 4.66 million tonnes per annum after the opening of the new plant, bought from Denmark for around 14 billion rupees ($230.6 million).

The firm currently produces 2.11 million tonnes of cement annually. Inayat Ullah Niazi, chief financial officer of DGKC, said the company exported 1,500 tonnes of cement to India on a trial basis last month, but did not say how much more will be exported. "Depending on the queries we receive and once we enter the Indian market only then the quantity to be exported can be determined," he told Reuters by telephone from Lahore.

DGKC exports around 10,000 to 12,000 tonnes monthly to Kandahar in neighbouring Afghanistan and also plans to boost its sales in other cities of Afghanistan, including Kabul. "Our first preference is naturally to capture the local market and then we will be more interested in exports," Niazi said. Niazi said the company had already started trial production from its newly-enhanced capacity and would start commercial production by the end of this month.

DGKC shares closed Rs 1.15 or 1.3 per cent down in a broader market which was down 1.1 percent.