Pakistan Annual Stone Exports Top $75 Million

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —  Stone exports touched $76 million mark this year and should surpass $100 million soon, according to a stone-industry spokesperson.

The Associated Press of Pakistan reports that Ihsanullah Kahn, CEO of the Pakistan Stone Development Co. (PASDEC), cited the figure as part of an increasing trend of exports that totaled $59 million last year.

Addressing the All Pakistan Marble Industries Association (APMIA) newly elected office bearers today, Kahn said his group introduced model projects of marble and granite development where production continues to increase. He said a number of model quarries, quarry upgrades, warehouses and machinery pools projects have been launched in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and other area to transform  the dimensional-stone industry.

The value-added productions of square blocks has a positive effect and will strengthen the national economy, he added.

By using state of the art machinery, Pakistan may succeed to pick up a lot of exports orders from the international market, after exhibitions of the country’s stone at events like the recent Marmomacc show in Verona, Italy.

“We expect to catch major orders in coming days,” Kahn added.