A homegrown cement manufacturer and importer yesterday rallied the industry to focus on government’s Build Better More program and support the massive requirements for housing and more school buildings.
The call was made by Eduardo Sahagun, director and executive vice president, of the
Phinma Construction Materials Group comprising Union Cement, Union Galvasteel and Union Solar.
This was after the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (Cemap) issued a warning that “more imports are on their way to be dumped in the coming months” into the Philippines.
Sahagun said anti-dumping duties are being imposed for five years on cement impots from identified exporters from Vietnam and even higher anti-dumping duty rates on those that did not participate in the investigation as well as on new foreign exporters
“The playing field is now level,” Sahagun said.
He noted the Tariff Commission did not recommend the extension of safeguard duties after October 2022 because it found that “during the period under review, there was no significant overall impairment in the position of the domestic cement industry that constituted serious injury” and that “there is no existence of an imminent threat of serious injury and significant overall impairment to the position of the domestic cement industry in the near future.”
PHINMA enjoined CEMAP to encourage more efficiency and genuine innovation among its members for the benefit of consumers, government and the country as a whole.
“We are doing both importing and local production of cement as part of our commitment to nation building by stabilizing both the supply and cost of cement. This will benefit government’s Build Better More program as well as support the massive requirements for housing and more school buildings. As a national organization, CEMAP must focus on the same by encouraging more efficiency and genuine innovation among its members,” Sahagun said.
Cemap and another local player Eagle Cement Corp. in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry continue to push the Buy Local, Build Lokal campaign to prioritize local cement in private sector construction.
The campaign also encourages government to procure locally- manufactured cement for its infrastructure projects.
Government-led consumption accounts for 40 percent of total cement demand.
