Karachi: Exports of cement from Pakistan to India have registered a growth of 79.34 percent during 7 months of the current fiscal year – July 2016 to January 2017 – but dispatches to Afghanistan suffered by 10.88 percent.

Exports by sea also declined by 19.23 percent, data released by All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association shows.

The factors contributing to a decline in exports include increase in fuel prices and other input cost, and the most damaging was the barriers erected by the countries we export to, such as anti-dumping duty imposed by South Africa to protect its local industry.

Moreover, in India in order to discourage imports, the tariff is around 19 percent including 3 percent education cess to promote education in the country, which makes it difficult to compete with their local manufacturers and other exporting countries which have lesser input cost, a spokesman of the association said.