Displaying items by tag: Philippines
Plastic neutrality for Republic Cement
07 September 2022Philippines: Republic Cement has announced that it has become plastic neutral, thanks to the continued efforts of its Ecoloop subsidiary. By collecting and co-processing the equivalent volume of residual plastic waste as it has used in the packaging and transport of its cement products, Republic Cement was able to offset its plastic packaging footprint for 2020, 2021 and so far in 2022. This is equivalent to over 890 dump trucks filled with plastic waste. Ecoloop has already helped a number of other companies to reach plastic neutrality.
Holcim Philippines launches ECOPlanet cements in Davao
11 August 2022Philippines: Holcim Philippines has launched its ECOPlanet 30% reduced-CO2 cement range in the city of Davao on Mindanao. The producer also introduced its Balik-Plastic waste cement bag recycling programme, offering a collection service to customers in order to reuse waste bags as alternative fuels and raw materials in cement production at its Davao plant.
Philippines: Eagle Cement’s sales rose by 24% year-on-year to US$246m in the first half of its 2023 financial year from US$199m a year earlier. Its income was US$53.4m, down by 20% year-on-year from US$66.6m. Eagle Cement attributed the decline to cost impacts resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and bottlenecks in global supply chains. Its operating expenses were US$26.1m, up by 35% year-on-year.
Philippines: Cemex subsidiary Solid Cement is installing a new US$356m, 1.5Mt/yr line at its Antipolo cement plant. When operational in April 2024, the line will increase the plant’s capacity by 79% to 3.4Mt/yr. Over the first four months of the project since March 2022, Solid Cement invested US$197m in silos and mechanical installation. The new 1.5Mt/yr line will use Low Temperature Clinker technology to reduce its CO2 emissions, and will also recycle waste hot gases for raw materials drying.
Solid Cement is building the plant using 6000t of its own Vertua reduced-CO2 cement, which it says will further reduce its net carbon footprint by 564t.
Philippines president and CEO Luis Franco said “We will maintain our active role in supporting the development of this nation, as we have done in the past 25 years.”
Philippines: Cemex Holdings Philippines has appointed Luis Guillermo Franco Carrillo as its president and chief executive with effect from 1 June 2022. He has succeeded Ignacio Mijares, who will now lead Corporate Strategic Planning at the Cemex central office.
Franco Carrillo previously worked as the Builders Segment Vice President for Cemex Mexico. He holds over 23 years of experience with Cemex, since joining the company in 1999. Prior to his assignment to the Philippines, Luis worked in senior positions in the UK, Hungary and Mexico. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) and a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Indonesia: The Indonesia government says that it will ask for compensation if the Philippines Tariff Commission extends tariffs on cement. The Manila Bulletin newspaper has reported that the government suggested that the fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member state should take more targeted measures against any country responsible for cement dumping, in line with the bloc’s rules.
In 2019 – 2021, Indonesia exported 532,000t of cement to the Philippines, constituting 2.7% of the country’s cement imports. Vietnam, meanwhile, exported 15.8Mt (80%).
Philippines: The Philippines imported 6.47Mt of cement from Vietnam in 2021, 91% of a total 7.11Mt of cement imported in the year. The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) recorded that total imports increased by 14% year-on-year from 6.25Mt of cement in 2020, while imports from Vietnam increased by 20% year-on-year from 5.4Mt.
The Manila Bulletin newspaper has reported that Philippine cement producers increased their production capacity by 23% year-on-year to 35.3Mt/yr at the beginning of 2022. CeMAP projected further capacity growth of 55% to 54.8Mt/yr by the end of 2025, against a domestic demand that year of 66Mt/yr.
Philippines: Holcim Philippines has donated 3000 Covid-19 vaccinations to the Lorma Medical Center in San Fernando, La Union. The Business Mirror newspaper has reported that the company aims to help increase inoculation levels in remote parts of the province, at a time when tourism is beginning again.
Vice president and head of communications and corporate social responsibility Cara Ramirez said “We are thankful to the Lorma Medical Center for being our partner in providing vaccines to our neighbours in La Union. We are hopeful that this donation will further strengthen the province's resilience against the disease as we enter summer and tourism once again booms. While the pandemic appears to be easing, we need to remain vigilant and encourage everyone to avail themselves of the vaccines to be more protected.”
Philippines: The government’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau has called on cement producers to maximise their use of waste plastic as a raw material in cement production. Philippines News Agency has reported that bureau director William Cuñado estimated that the measures would bring about a 40 – 60% drop in national plastic waste generation. He said that local government has a part to play in arranging the requisite municipal solid waste (MSW) practices.
Philippines: The Philippines Tariff Commission (TC) has launched an investigation into the possible extension of the safeguard measure against imports of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) Type 1 and blended cement Type 1P. The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines previously filed a petition for the extension. The TC will hold its preliminary conference on the matter on 8 March 2022.
The commission said “Matters for discussion include the timelines, nature of investigation, appearance of counsel and parties, number of witnesses, notification, accessibility of documents and public file, confidentiality of documents, submission of position paper(s) and memoranda, conduct of inspection and verification of data and schedules of public hearings and other activities.”