Iligan folk fear closure of city’s 2 cement p

Still reeling from the closure of National Steel Corp. (NSC) two years ago, residents of Iligan City are now apprehensive that their cement industry will die a slow death, too, if the dumping of cheap cement imports into the country continues.

In a hearing of the House committee on trade and industry, Iligan City Mayor Franklin Quijano expressed fears that the two remaining cement plants in the city might be forced to close down like NSC, in the light of the current problems that local cement manufacturers are facing.

The NSC folded up following the unabated entry of cheap steel imports, primarily from Russia. With its closure, thousands of Iligan residents subsequently lost their jobs.

"The issue here is the very survival of Iligan City," said Quijano, who flew all the way from Iligan City to participate in last Thursday’s committee hearing.

"This is why the government has to be very careful about how it manages policies (pertaining to the cement industry)," he said.

Quijano warned that at least 700 cement workers stand to lose their jobs if the two cement factories in Iligan close down.

Apart from this, hundreds of workers in the various support industries that are dependent on Iligan’s cement industry, will also be affected if the local cement plants cease operations.

Three cements companies originally operated in Iligan City, namely, Alsons Cement Corp., Mindanao Portland Cement Corp. and Iligan Cement Corp. The last two have since merged their operations due to sluggish demand.

Quijano’s fears were echoed by the Philippine Cement Workers Council, which said some 50,000 cement workers and their families stand to be displaced if the unabated entry of cheap imported cement into the country continues.

As of end-2000, 4,000 workers have been laid off as local cement plants were forced to operate at only 60 percent of their contracted capacity.

Meanwhile, Francisco Viray, former energy secretary and now Union Cement Corp. senior executive vice president, disclosed that imports continue to rapidly gobble up the market share of local cement manufacturers.

According to Viray, from a mere 1.4 percent share in 1999, imported cement accounted for a hefty 19 percent average market share in the first semester of this year.

Viray told the trade committee hearing that imports cornered more than one-third of the total demand, at 34 percent in July alone.

"Given this trend, we expect the share of imported cement to increase even further to 35 percent in August," he said.

Last Thursday’s seven-hour committee meeting was an offshoot of three House resolutions calling for a congressional investigation into the plight of the local cement industry and safeguards against the unabated dumping of cheap imported cement into the country.