R.P. cement price lowest in Southeast Asia -- study

<a href=www.abs-cbnnews.com>abs-cbnnews.com, Wednesday, June 18, 2003 10:1:0 p.m

A study conducted by investment firm JP Morgan Securities Ltd. showed that the Philippines has one of the lowest cement prices in the whole world and the lowest cement prices in Southeast Asia.

JP Morgan’s “Construction & Building Material Sector” report published in February showed that the cement price in the Philippines is among the lowest in the world. The country was ranked 69 out of 73 countries in terms of cement prices.

The study showed that Switzerland has the highest cement price in the world with $110 per ton followed by Dominican Republic and Venezuela’s $100 per ton. China, on the other hand, has the lowest cement price at $28 per ton.

The study revealed that the $34 per metric ton cement price in the Philippines is the lowest in Southeast Asia compared to Indonesia’s $60 per ton, Vietnam’s $55, Malaysia’s $52, Taiwan’s $46, Thailand’s $39 and Singapore’s $38 per ton.

Trade Secretary Manuel Roxas II earlier said the continued imposition of additional duties on imported cement has helped the government in its efforts to keep prices of cement stable despite the peak season of construction activities in the country.

Roxas said stable cement price was in sharp contrast to earlier claims that prices of cement would go up after the Department of Trade and Industry imposed a P20.60 per bag additional duty on imported cement since December 2001 after it found merit in the petition filed by the Philippine Cement Manufacturers Corp. (PHILCEMCOR).

Roxas ordered the imposition of an additional P20.6 per bag duty November of 2001 on all cement imports after finding enough evidence that the influx of cheap cement into the country have injured the local players.

However, the Tariff Commission ruled in March last year that no definitive safeguard measure in the form of quota restrictions or higher tariff should be imposed on cement imports as PHILCEMCOR failed to prove that imported cement caused material injury on the domestic market. PHILCEMCOR elevated the case to the Court of Appeals.

On June 5, the appellate court upheld the authority of the DTI secretary to overturn the ruling of the Tariff Commission and remanded the cement petition back to the DTI.

Meanwhile, Akbayan Party-list Rep. Loretta Ann P. Rosales Wednesday called on Roxas to publicly declare what he intends to do regarding the application for safeguard measures to protect the local cement industry.

Roxas denied an application for safeguard measures in the form of 50-percent tariffs on imported gray Portland cement from certain countries like Indonesia and Taiwan on April 5, citing a Department of Justice opinion saying he was bound by the “negative findings” of the Tariff Commission advising against imposing definitive safeguard measures in favor of the cement industry.

However, the CA ruled that the Tariff Commission’s findings were merely recommendatory, regardless of whether it was positive or negative. L. Agcaoili

Rosales said it was important for the DTI to act expeditiously on the matter since it is not only the local manufacturers who are in dire need of protection but the thousands of workers whose jobs will be affected by any downturn in the industry.

Rosales believed that the CA decision was a big win for workers, who would bear the brunt of a surge in cement imports had the decision found Roxas bound to the Tariff Commission’s recommendations.