Philippines: High Volume of Cement Importation Affects Local Industry, Group Says
The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) has raised concerns about the impact of cement imports from Vietnam on the local market.
The group highlighted the excessive production capacity in Vietnam, leading to a flood of cement imports into the Philippines. Despite anti-dumping duties, the influx of imported cement has the potential to jeopardize the domestic industry and thousands of jobs.
CeMAP emphasized the importance of supporting local manufacturers and their contributions to the country's infrastructure and economy.
The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) has expressed distress over the surge in cement imports from Vietnam, which is adversely affecting the local market. CeMAP cited data from Global Cement News, revealing that Vietnam's cement production capacity of 120 million tons is twice the country's local demand of 57 million metric tons (MT) in 2023. This has led to a significant oversupply, prompting Vietnam to offload its excess output to the Philippines, further exacerbating the situation.
The group also highlighted a decline in Vietnam's domestic demand by 16 percent in 2023, leading to a substantial increase in cement imports to the Philippines.Despite the imposition of anti-dumping duties on cement exports to the Philippines, CeMAP's recent data from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) revealed that these duties were only applied to 20 percent of the total cement exports. This has raised concerns about the unfair competition faced by local cement manufacturers.
The Philippine cement industry is already grappling with a total expected capacity of 53 million tons (MT) in 2024, while the projected demand is only 34.5 MT for the year. CeMAP emphasized that the local industry has the capacity to meet the government and private infrastructure projects' cement demands, with ongoing investments in additional capacity and innovative cement solutions.
The group underscored the adverse implications of the influx of cement imports on the domestic market, including the potential risk to thousands of Filipino jobs and the undermining of the industry's social development programs.
CeMAP emphasized the importance of supporting local manufacturers and their contributions to the country's construction industry and economy, particularly in terms of innovation, environmental sustainability, and community development.
Source: Manila Standard
