Cement sector seeks relief to offset losses

Cement manufacturers have welcomed a recent statement of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the implementation of track and trace system by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the initiation of an investigation into its mismanagement. “APCMA in various meetings and correspondences with the FBR has maintained from day one that the track and trace system cannot function within the cement industry and will not achieve the desired results,” remarked a spokesperson for the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers’ Association (APCMA). Such views, however, were not taken seriously and the cement industry was coerced into purchasing equipment worth billions of rupees for the track and trace system, he claimed. Various trial runs of the system, according to the spokesperson, have failed and instead of addressing the shortcomings, cement dispatches were stopped by the FBR to forcefully apply the tracking system.