THE local Cement Manufacturers of the Philippines (CeMAP) on Wednesday argued for the retention of the government’s provisional tariff on imported cement, saying that contrary to claims by another group, the tariff should not result in an increase in local cement prices.
Instead, CeMAP said keeping the tariff is necessary to level the playing field for local producers, who do not enjoy subsidies which foreign companies that export cement to the Philippines — such as those from Vietnam — receive from their governments.
Such subsidies, CeMAP said, enable the foreign market players to offer lower-priced cement products in the Philippines, to the disadvantage of the local poducers.
“We need this safeguard to ensure the industry remains viable and to protect local jobs. We also don’t think it will result in higher prices,” CeMAP Executive Director Rey Baja said.
In an interview, Baja belied the claim made by the United Filipino Consumer and Commuters (UFCC) that the current tariff of P400 per metric ton of imported cement, or P16 per 40-kilogram bag, would result in an increase in cement prices, and in effect, would also raise the cost of construction.
UFCC is calling for an end to the tariff, which the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) started imposing in April as a safeguard measure for 200 days, while the agency investigates the impact of cement imports on local production.
In March, the DTI said local cement producers lost part of its market share – down to almost 68 percent in 2023 from nearly 78 percent in 2019 — due to imported cement.
The DTI is set to release the result of the investigation within the 200-day period, which will end in October.
CeMAP added that since the tariff began taking effect, cement prices in the country have stayed stable, with many local manufacturers able to keep their products competitive.
Baja noted that in 2024 alone, cement imports reached 7.6 million metric tons, mostly from Vietnam.
“This happened even though the Philippine industry had a total capacity of 51 million tons. Demand was only around 35 million tons, and actual production dropped to 27 million tons,” he said.
“That means only 53 percent of the capacity was used. The result: P5 billion in losses, slower operations, and job cuts,” Baja explained.
He said should the situation persist, it is likely the local cement industry would be at the mercy of the imported products.
CeMAP said given that some Vietnamese cement companies are state-owned, the incentives they receive from their government allow them to compete with lower prices than their Filipino counterparts who do not receive the same subsidies.
“The Philippines is not subsidized,” Baja said.
In particular, Baja pointed to the electricity cost of operations, saying Vietnam’s producers pay only “P2 to P4” per kilowatt, compared with “P9 to P10” that local producers have to pay.
This, he said, results in lower landed cost for imported cement upon arrival in the Philippines, compared with locally-made ones.
Baja said the matter is “of national interest” — to promote and protect local cement industry against unfair competition from other countries.
He noted that the safeguard measure has also gained strong support from business groups such as the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), which have argued that the tariff is needed to protect local jobs and keep the industry alive.
Cement manufacturing contributes at least 1 percent to the country’s gross domestic product and supports about 130,000 direct and indirect jobs, Baja added.
