Cement sales surged 18.6 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, on the back of strong construction activities by the private and public sectors.
The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines said sales in the July-September quarter reached 6.37 million metric tons, up from 5.37 million MT in the same period in 2014.
The figure brought total sales in the first three quarters to 18.28 million MT, up 13.6 percent from 16.09 million MT recorded in the same period last year.
Cemap president Ernesto Ordoñez said the strong performance could be credited to sustained infrastructure spending and the uptrend in the property sector.
Ordoñez said despite government’s underspending in the early part of the year, the quick release of funds in the succeeding quarters enabled the government to proceed with priority projects.
Cement sales have been on an upswing since 2011, hitting a record 21.3 MMT in 2014, or an increase of 9.6 percent from 2013.
Cement manufacturers also increased capacity utilization to 85 percent in 2014, from 65 percent a year ago as demand for the product continued to rise.
The Trade Department said there was enough volume to supply the requirement of the construction sector.
“There is no volume shortage and cement plants in the country have provisions to produce higher volume, if needed,” said Trade undersecretary for consumer protection Victorio Dimagiba.
Dimagiba said the government had no prohibitions on the entry of cement imports. A big portion of the country’s cement imports was from Vietnam.
The Philippines had excess production of almost 10 million MT in 2014. Domestic production in 2014 hit 31.3 million MT, exceeding consumption of 21.3 million MT.
Current price of cement ranges from a low of P215 per 40-kilogram bag to as much as P255 per bag.
Cemap earlier predicted that the turnover for both public and private construction projects would reach P1.7 trillion in 2015.
Ordoñez said as growth continued, the demand for higher quality building materials would spike as well.
“Concrete plays a major role in sustaining the country’s growing demand for high-quality infrastructure,” he said.