Displaying items by tag: Import

Rwanda: Raymond Murenzi, the director general of the Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS), says that cement imported from Uganda in March 2019 was blocked because it did not meet minimum quality requirements. The imported product was found to be below the designated weight of 50kg, according to the New Times newspaper. Three trucks with 30t loads of cement from Hima Cement were prevented from crossing the border.

Previously, similar issues have occurred dating back to 2015 and the RBS has notified the supplier on each occasion. The company is then given 14 days to re-export the goods.

Botswana: Rachit Josh, the managing director of Matsiloje Portland Cement, say that the company will struggle to reopen without government support to block imports. The cement producer closed its plant at Matsiloje, near Francistown in January 2018, according to the Monitor newspaper. Josh blamed cement imports from South Africa as being a particular concern.

In June 2018 the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment said it was starting to introduce restrictions on imports restricting imports to 70% locally sourced product. However, it is unclear when these measures will be implemented.

Matsiloje Portland Cement is a subsidiary of Nortex Group. Its integrated plant had a production capacity of 30,000t/yr. The company produced the lime it used for its cement and it sourced other raw materials from South Africa and fly ash from a power station at Morupule.

Philippines: Ramon Lopez, the secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), says that a suggested retail price (SRP) for cement is not a priority following the introduction of tariffs in imports. He added that prices had barely changed since the safeguard duty started in February 2019, according to the Manila Times newspaper. The Tariff Commission is currently considering whether to add additional tariffs to cement imports. A public hearing is set on for early May 2019 where it may extend the import duties.

Benin: Aliko Dangote, the chairman of Nigeria’s Dangote Cement, raised the issue his company has with exporting cement to Benin. He said this company could not export cement to Benin despite its Ibese plant in Nigeria being under 30km from the border, according to the Vanguard newspaper. He alleged that the country was importing ‘more expensive’ cement from China instead.

Dangote made the comments in an interview with Mo Ibrahim at the 2019 Ibrahim Governance Weekend in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He also said that he looked forward to the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) making trade easier in the region.

Trinidad & Tobago: Trinidad Cement has asked the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to make its competitor Rock Hard Cement pay more than a 5% tariff on imports. It follows a ruling by the council of trade ministers in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in March 2019 that agreed to a classification of Rock Hard Cement’s products in Trinidad leading to duties of up to 5%, according to the Nation newspaper. The case has been referred to the CCJ for final arbitration in June 2019.

The Gambia: Bai Lamin Jobe, the Minister of Trade, says that the country has a cement capacity utilisation rate of 23%. Local producers have a capacity of 1.9Mt/yr but national demand is only around 0.4Mt, according to the Foroyaa newspaper. He added that the country imported 0.39Mt in 2018 in answers to members of the National Assembly.

It was also revealed that Jah Multi Industries is building new silos at its import terminal. Jah Cement is also planning to upgrade its terminal into a grinding plant. Construction work started in 2018 and it is expected to be completed by late 2019.

US: Data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows that national shipments of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and blended cement rose by 1.3% year-on-year to 85.3Mt in 2018 from 84.2Mt in 2017. Imports rose by 10% to 12.4Mt from 11.3Mt. Overall, shipments rose by 2.3% to 97.6Mt. The top clinker producing regions in 2018 were Texas, California, Missouri and Florida. The country imported 15.1Mt of cement and clinker from, in order of descending volume, Canada, Turkey, China, Greece and Mexico.

US: Apparent cement consumption grew by 3% year-on-year to 100Mt in 2018 from 97.4Mt in 2017, according to estimates from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Production of Ordinary Portland Cement and masonry cement rose by 2% to 87.8Mt from 86.1Mt. Imports of cement increased by 14% to 14Mt from 12.3Mt. Texas, California, Missouri, Florida, and Alabama were, in descending order of production, the five leading cement-producing states and accounted for nearly 50% of US production.

The USGS said that construction spending increased ‘modestly’ during the year, largely owing to somewhat higher spending in the residential and public construction sectors. The non-residential private building sector declined slightly. The leading cement-consuming states continued to be Texas, California, and Florida. Production of cement remained below capacity, in part reflecting both the technical and environmental issues in returning long-idle kilns to full production at some plants, and the availability of imported cement in coastal markets.

Philippines: The Cement Importers Association of the Philippines (CIAP) has defended cement imports from Vietnam. In a statement the association said that all legally imported cement sold in the Philippines met the required standards, according to the BusinessWorld newspaper. It made the comment in response to media reports that ‘substandard’ Vietnam-sourced cement was saturating the market.

CIAP said that the controls imposed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) were tougher for imported cement than for locally produced cement. Local manufacturers are audited once per year compared to checks for every batch of imported cement. The DTI said it was going to impose a provisional tariff on imported cement in early 2019.

Panama: The Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI) is planning to introduce regulations testing cement imports for Hexavalent chromium (chromium VI). Edgar Arias, Director of Standards and Industrial Technology of the MICI, said at a trade forum that the new rules had been agreed, according to La Estrella de Panamá newspaper. At present cement is tested at the discretion of the importer. Under the new regulations cement will be tested before it leaves its country of origin, when it arrives in Panama and for a third time at the point of sale at the discretion of the authorities.

Panama imports 10,000 – 20,000t/month of cement from countries including China, Turkey and Vietnam. Around 20 importers handle the market. Import tax on cement ranges from 10 – 20% depending on the point of origin.