Attock Cement adds new production line

Attock Cement announced on Tuesday the addition of a new production line with an installed capacity of 1.27 million tonnes per annum, expanding the country’s idle capacity at a time when construction activities have remained slow amid elevated inflation and record-high interest rates. The output capacity of the manufacturer of the Falcon brand has risen to a cumulative 4.30 million tonnes per year, placing it among the top 10 producers (in terms of capacity) out of the 26 major manufacturers of construction material in the country. With this addition, the country’s total cement production capacity has risen to around 85 million tonnes per year, with almost half of the total capacity currently lying in surplus, putting many companies in a tough financial situation. Speaking to The Express Tribune, Mehroz Khan, Deputy Head of Research at Foundation Securities said that cement manufacturers have added around 12 million tonnes of new capacity under the fourth expansion cycle since November 2022. Several companies announced expansions at their factories following the Covid-19 pandemic based on a positive economic outlook, fuelled by remarkable growth and an amnesty scheme in the real estate and property sector.