Vietnam is supplying increasing cement volume to the Philippines in the past three years, crowding out the production of local companies.
The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines presented data showing Vietnamese cement imports steadily grew over the years during a Tariff Commission hearing on the provisional anti-dumping duty imposed by the Department of Trade and Industry.
Data culled from the Bureau of Customs by CEMAP showed that cement imports hit 7.107 million metric tons in 2021, with Vietnam accounting for 91 percent or 6.466 million MT, while other sources contributed the balance of 9 percent.
Imports from Vietnam increased steadily to 4.118 million MT in 2018, 4.167 million MT in 2019 and 5.396 MMT in 2020 out of total imports of 5.909 million MT, 6.305 million MT and 6.246 million MT, respectively.
CEMAP noted the decreasing profitability of local cement producers owing to the steady increase in imports, which were said to be 10 percent to 15 cheaper than domestic cement in the provinces. Imports and local cement are at price parity in Metro Manila.
The group expressed alarm that while local capacities were expanding to serve domestic requirements, imports managed to keep rising.
CEMAP said the local cement manufacturing capacity has been expanding since 2019 with additional capacity of 3.7 million MT to boost previous capacity of 30.6 million MT. Additional capacities were also added in 2020 with 2 million MT and another 6.6 million MT in 2021.
It said that from 2022 to 2025, local capacities are expected to add 19.5 million MT. Demand is estimated to reach 66 million MT in three years or until 2025. This means that only half of the demand can be served by local capacity.
Meanwhile, cement importers said the government’s imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports would not put an end to importation because of the deficiency in local supply.
The DTI imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on specific Portland cement brands imported from Vietnam in December 2021 after conducting a preliminary determination on the anti-dumping petition filed by Republic Cement & Building Materials Inc., Cemex Philippines and Holcim Philippines Inc.
The DTI found out that nine of 16 Vietnamese exporters of Type 1 cement and four of 12 exporters of Type 1P cement from other sources were dumping cement in the country, causing material injury to the domestic industry.
Dumping occurs when exporters sell their products to an importing country at a price lower than its normal value when consumed in their home market. Under the World Trade Organization Anti-Dumping Agreement, WTO member countries are entitled to impose anti-dumping duties to mitigate dumping-related injury to the domestic industry.
