CEMAP awaits final decision on safeguard measures for imported cement

MANILA, Philippines — The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (Cemap) is awaiting the Tariff Commission’s final decision on safeguard measures for imported cement. 

This as the Tariff Commission’s Task Force on Cement (TFC) is finalizing the report on the outcome of recent hearings held as a result of CEMAP’s petition to increase and make permanent the safeguard measure.

Tariff commission director and TFC head Lourdes Saluta said the task force’s report and recommendation would be ready for presentation to the commission’s collegial body for decision before the end of the month.

She said the commission is not late in issuing its decision as it is still two months away from the September expiration of the safeguard measure imposed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in February.

CEMAP is keenly awaiting the decision of the Tariff Commission due to its repercussion to the local cement industry.

In its petition, CEMAP said the higher and permanent safeguard of P8.40 duty per bag for imported cement imposed by the DTI failed to curb the surge in cement imports.

CEMAP, in a statement, claimed that the industry is already reeling from decreased market share and profits as importers and traders have been flooding the market with zero-tariff imported cement since 2016. 

The group said there was already a 64 percent increase in the volume of cement imports in the first quarter of 2019. There were 1.74 million metric tons (MMT) of imported cement brought into the country from January to March while the volume in the same period last year was 1.06 MMT.

“Unabated importation will lead to serious repercussions that will be detrimental to the Philippine economy,” said CEMAP executive director Cirilo Pestaño II.

CEMAP said relying on imported cement exposes the government’s infrastructure projects to cost, quality and schedule disruption as price, standards and supply of imported cement are dictated by the exporting country.

It also claimed that the overall economy would be impacted by commercial losses to be incurred by an industry whose production value is estimated to be P155 billion or one percent of the total gross domestic product of the country and whose tax contributions is around P24 billion annually.

The DTI, for its part, said the competitiveness and viability of cement manufacturers will serve as a strong foundation for a highly industrialized Philippines.