KARACHI: Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd, a Pakistani maker of the construction material, is considering boosting capacity by almost a third to tap demand as the economy recovers, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. The Lahore-based company plans to increase its capacity by about 7,000 tons a day at its current facility, the people said, asking not to be identified citing a private matter. The proposal is in final stages and the company is discussing the plan with banks and machinery suppliers, the people said. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s move to offer tax cheats amnesty for investing in building homes has spurred a construction boom and is helping revive economic growth. Local sales for the building material is expected to rise 17 percent in the year ending June, the most in five years, according to Insight Securities Pvt. The company’s shares rose 1.2 percent at the Pakistan Stock Market after jumping as much as 2.3 percent. The stock has almost doubled in the past year

  LAHORE : Pakistan’s first virtual (online) expo will start on February 25, for the first time in Pakistan, the online exhibition of real estate and construction. Virtual Expo is a platform held for the first time in the history of Pakistan which will be exhibited online keeping in view the modern requirements like a real exhibition. Major construction companies from across the country will showcase their business and residential projects at the Virtual Expo. The main purpose of the Virtual Expo is to promote construction and business activities in Corona’s pandemic. The Virtual Expo will allow users to join the exhibition and view projects at home, like a real exhibition, as well as information, invest, buy and sell. The Virtual Expo is one of the most effective ways to promote business and reach customers at home around the world. What is special about the virtual platform is that there is no time limit for participating in the exhibition. Any stall holder or visitor can participate

  Construction incentives A lacklustre economic performance and Covid-19 were compelling factors to announce a special incentive package for the construction sector by the prime minister on April 3, 2020. Promotion of construction as an industry was the hallmark of this announcement. The recently announced extension in the incentive package for another year, along with an amnesty for another three months, has also been well appreciated by the Pakistani business community. The amnesty scheme was introduced for the construction sector and people were allowed to invest in the real-estate sector without disclosing the source of income. It attracted a good number of builders and contractors, who started investing in this sector, and generated healthy competitive economic activity. But it was a time-bound scheme – supposed to last till December 31, 2020. Now that the government has extended the facility, that’s really an appreciable step in the right direction. The salient features of this i

  During the period under review, Other Appartus imports also came down by 5.20%, valuing $216,637 thousand imported as compared the imports worth $228,509 thousand of same period of last year. ISLAMABAD: Construction and Mining machinery imports, during first six months of current fiscal year, have reduced by 32.86 per cent as compared the corresponding period of the last year. According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the Construction and Mining machinery imports came down from $ 80,871 thousand in Fy 2019-20 of last financial year to US $ 54,294 thousand of the same period of current financial year. During the period of July-Dec 20 this year, imports of Textile Machinery reduced by 0.52 per cent, worth $230,911 thousand as compared the imports valuing $ 232,129 thousand of same period of last year, it added. Meanwhile, Electric Machinery and Appartus imports decreased by 46.26%, worth $640,704 thousand as compared the imports of valuing $1,192,274 thousand of the correspondi

  LAHORE:Amid the allegations of irregularities levelled by contractors, Lahore Development Authority (LDA) opened the tenders of first phase of 4000 apartments to be constructed in LDA City New Pakistan Apartments project. The tenders for Package One for the construction of 4,000 apartments were opened here on Wednesday, said LDA officials in a statement. They said two tenders were opened for construction of 15 blocks in Package One. There will be 32 apartments in each block. Thus, tenders were opened for construction of 960 apartments under Single Stage Two Envelope process. On the other hand, Constructors Association of Pakistan (CAP) sent a legal notice to Chief Engineer LDA raising questions about the announced tendering process. The title of the legal notice was irregularities in tendering process. In the legal notice, CAP said that it has found several irregularities in the announced tendering process. They claimed that while tendering works, the rule of Single Stage Envelope pr

Officials say ease of doing business remains an issue for foreign investors LAHORE: Stakeholders of the construction industry have said that even though activities in the sector are getting streamlined, there remain a lot of problems that need to be addressed by the government to gain the desired results. The industry officials are of the view that is the only sector, which can help the country recover from the ongoing economic crisis. At the domestic level, investors are somewhat satisfied with the pace of developing regulatory frameworks but for foreign investors ease of doing business remains a daunting issue. Eighteen CEO Tarek Hamdy believes that tax incentives, waivers and subsidies for builders, developers and property owners extended through the prime minister’s construction package would enhance investment in real estate sector. “Real estate is the only sector that can guarantee rapid economic growth,” he added. The Egyptian billionaire said, “Even in the midst of a pandemic,

  KARACHI: The prices of building materials have risen sharply in the last two years with construction activities picking up momentum after launching of housing and highrise projects. For example, the price of mixer machine including trolley, engine and tyres has swelled to Rs420,000-450,000 from Rs400,000 in the last quarter of 2020 due to massive hike in iron rates. Also the price of lifts with 50ft height steel structure for carrying mixture of cement and concrete to the roof hovers between Rs350,000-400,000. A mixer machine manufacturer in Liaquatabad area told  Dawn  the iron price of 8mm gauge now costs Rs170-193 per kg depending on the quality as compared to Rs137-140 in the last quarter of 2020 while 16-horse power engine price is now Rs64,000 as compared to Rs52,000-55,000 a few months back. He said mixer machines are not readily available for on-spot sales. “We give one to two weeks’ time for delivery after getting an advance booking,” he added. Transporters of mixer machines

Pakistan has finalised the details for the construction of a new shipyard in Gwadar, the country’s deep seaport in Balochistan, with an aim to incentivise commercial shipbuilding and repair industry, create new jobs and spur economic growth. Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments have announced a joint collaboration by signing an MoU for the establishment of Gwadar shipyard. The project in the strategically located Gwadar city is of “great regional importance” and also significant for the socio-economic development of Balochistan and overall Pakistan as it will “create employment for the locals” and boost revenue generation for the province, said Federal Minister for Defence Production Zobaida Jalal.  Gwadar shipyard will offer shipbuilding and repairing as well as training facilities benefiting the whole region, she said. The project, which will begin after the completion of its feasibility study, is expected to take at least two to three years, officials say. Balochistan Chief

LAHORE : Lahore Development Authority (LDA) carried out a grand operation against illegal commercialisation and sealed 28 properties in various localities here on Saturday. Officials said the operation was carried out on the direction by Lahore Development Authority Director General Ahmed Aziz Tarar. They said the staff of Town Planning Zone 1 conducted a grand operation against illegal commercial use of residential buildings in different areas of the city and sealed a total of 28 properties at various locations. These included 10 properties in New Muslim Town and nine each in Shadman and Shah Jamal areas. Meanwhile, Lahore Development Authority announced a pre-bid conference of contractors, interested in construction of 4,000 apartments under Lahore Development Authority City Naya Pakistan Apartments scheme. The conference will be held on Monday at the committee room of Engineering Wing, LDA office Johar Town. Tenders for this project will be opened on February 10, 13, 17 and 20. Laho

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan on Tuesday summoned the chief secretary after the LDA head failed to satisfy the court on the issue of illegal housing societies established on the green land areas. The chief justice also summoned the data about the officers posted in the LDA on deputation. LDA Director General Ahmad Aziz Tarar and its legal adviser Sahibzada Muzaffar appeared before the court. The petitioner’s counsel pointed out that the LDA furnished a vague report about the illegal societies and stay orders issued by the courts in their favour. He said the LDA had not fixed responsibility for the construction of these societies. To court’s query, the LDA DG said 241 housing societies had been found illegally constructed on the green land areas while 62 other had been approved. However, he could not come up with an apt answer when asked about the numbers of the illegal societies had been established during the last two years and the compliance of legal req

  This is the highest cement dispatches recorded in the month of January in the last two years As the construction sector tick upwards, cement sales saw record highs as total cement sales during January 2021 stood at 4.73 million tonnes, up 16.28 percent from 4.07 million tonnes recorded in the same month last fiscal. This is the highest cement dispatches recorded in the month of January in the last two years. According to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), domestic consumption of cement increased by 23.67 percent from 3.26 million tonnes in January 2020 to 4.03 million tonnes in January 2021. On Month on Month (MoM) basis, domestic cement sales fell by 2.89 percent, from 4.15 million tonnes in December 2020 to 4.03 million tonnes in January 2021. Whereas, cement exports declined by 14.09 percent from 808,874 tonnes in January 2020 to 694,934 tonnes in January 2021. However, on MoM basis exports inched up by 9.6 percent from 0.633 million tonnes

LAHORE: The LDA informed the Lahore High Court (LHC) that cases have been registered against 115 illegal housing societies that have encroached greenbelts in the city, in a hearing on Tuesday, ARY News reported. A single bench comprising LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan heard a petition filed by a citizen, Mubbashir Almas against construction of 557 housing societies on green land areas and greenbelts. Chief Justice Qasim Khan said Lahore Development Authority (LDA) only completing formalities for the court. The counsel of the petitioner said that failed to act despite the court orders. “The cases are in courts since 2015 but the LDA has failed to recover an inch of the encroached land,” the counsel argued. “A better environment is constitutional right of every citizen, if the DG LDA failing to assist the court, I will constitute a commission,” Chief Justice Qasim Khan said. “If you could do something, tell the court till tomorrow, otherwise a commission will be constituted,” cour