Local cement sales dipped 18 per cent year-on-year to 2.65 million tonnes in September, plunging to 2017 level due to surging prices driven by irrational taxation and construction slowdown, said All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA). However, exports swelled by 71.52pc to to 978,871 tonnes compared to 570,692 tonnes in September 2023. An APCMA spokesperson said this is the fo
Oil prices rose on Thursday with all eyes on key producing countries in the Middle East and mounting concerns that a widening regional conflict could pose a threat to global crude flows. Brent crude futures were up $3.59, or 4.86 per cent, at $77.49 a barrel by 1:08 p.m. EDT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $3.58, or 5.11pc, to $73.68. Meanwhile, US gasoline futures gained more
The local textile industry is bracing for a financial crisis in the form of costlier cotton imports due to a sharp decline in the domestic production, with the output unlikely to exceed five million bales this year. According to figures released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) on Thursday, total cotton arrivals at ginning factories as of Sept 30 stand at 2.039 million bales —
As the government has yet to privatise any state-owned enterprise, the Senate Standing Committee on Privatisation was informed on Thursday that Rs250 million was spent on the divestment process of power distribution companies (Discos) without completing a single transaction. Seeking details of this enormous expenditure, committee chair Senator Tallal Badar lamented that in a state where Rs250 m
Despite overcapacity in the system and its resultant unaffordable cost to consumers, the complaints about overbilling, overcharging and extensive loadshedding, particularly in Karachi, continued to echo at the parliamentary and regulatory forums on Thursday. Notwithstanding defence from its management, K-Electric remained under severe criticism — both at a meeting of the National Assembly’s Sta