Decisive move

The Department of Trade and Industry is moving closer to imposing safeguard measures on imported cement which continues to flood the local market to the detriment of the Philippine cement industry.

- MARY ANN LL. REYES

Trade Secretary Cristina Roque earlier directed the department to conduct a motu proprio preliminary safeguard investigation following the alarming rise in the volume of cement being imported into the country, most of which is being sold at dumped prices. Vietnam accounts for more than 90 percent of cement imports.

The DTI has already received position papers from five local cement manufacturers on the said motu proprio investigation. Cement makers have indicated their support for the imposition of safeguard measures, which can come in the form of additional duties on imported cement.

According to one report, the Bureau of Customs has admitted that imported cement continues to flood the country during the first three quarters of the year, despite the fact that anti-dumping duties are still being imposed on cement coming from Vietnam.

Data from the BOC revealed that cement imports from January to October 2024 already reached 6.2 million tons, five percent higher than last year, with October alone registering a record-high 870,000 tons. Around 94 percent came from Vietnam, while five percent was sourced from Japan and one percent from Indonesia.

In March of last year, the BOC implemented an order from the DTI for the imposition of anti-dumping duties on cement coming from Vietnam for a period of five years to avoid an imminent threat to the domestic cement industry which last year suffered a loss.

If the DTI decides to impose safeguard duties on imported cement, then that will be on top of the regular import duties and anti-dumping duties.