Displaying items by tag: Cement Industry Federation

Australia: Industry groups, including cement producers, are lobbying against a new import tax, the Biosecurity Imports Levy. They allege that that new tariff will increase costs by 3000 - 5000% on the inputs for cement, steel and aluminium production, according to the Australian newspaper. The new levy was introduced in the May 2018 budget for implementation in July 2019. It intends to tighten the country’s biosecurity.

Industry lobbyists complain that it will impose a US$0.7/t levy on ‘non-containerised’ cargo for biosecurity inspections, dramatically increasing the cost of inspection for bulk imports of materials. They also deny that it will improve biosecurity outcomes.

Cement Industry Federation chief executive Margie Thomson said that the tax unfairly punished non-containerised cargoes. “It shouldn’t be a tonnage levy, when the biosecurity risk is not­associated with the product.”

Australia: The Federal Opposition has claimed that 1800 cement industry jobs will be at risk from Labour's carbon tax and proposed new shipping rules. Nationals leader Warren Truss says the USD2.2bn-a-year industry is facing a 'double-whammy' under the Gillard government, saying that domestic cement manufacturers could be killed off by 'dirtier' imports, made cheaper under the carbon tax.

"The paradox is Australian cement production is a leader in low-emission technology and any shift to imports will force global CO₂ emissions to rise," said Truss. He added that the Australian cement industry has the world's second lowest greenhouse gas emissions behind Japan. "The carbon tax will price Australia's cleaner cement out of the market, giving the green light to our international competitors to boost their higher CO₂-emitting production and flood Australia with dirty cement. The Australian cement industry will be crushed by competitors who will not be paying a carbon tax."

Mr Truss said Labor was also rewriting the Navigation Act to force businesses that ship products around Australia to use domestic union-dominated vessels. He said 'unionised shipping' in Australia cost significantly more than current international market rates and would be another blow to the cement industry.

"Right now it costs about the same to ship cement from China to Australia as it does to ship it from Adelaide to Port Kembla," he said. "Under the Gillard government's sop to the maritime union, our biggest competitors in cement - China, Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand - will dramatically undercut Australian suppliers on shipping costs alone."

The Cement Industry Federation (CIF) backed Truss's claims, saying the shipping reforms would impose new cost burdens on the sector. "Australian manufacturing cannot afford adding further cost imposts as a result of regulatory changes to coastal shipping," said a CIF spokeswoman in a statement. "While improving job security and conditions for Australian-based shipping crew is important, this must be weighed against the job security for manufacturing workers in primary production and manufacturing industries."

Meanwhile, Truss said a large section of the cement manufacturing sector would not be compensated under the carbon tax plan. The compensation package would apply only to producing clinker, the first stage of making cement. "The milling stage to make cement receives no compensation," he said.

Truss dismissed federal Treasurer Wayne Swan's comments that predictions of job losses in the manufacturing industry as a result of the carbon tax were 'doom and gloom.' "It is simply a nonsense for Mr Swan to suggest that his tax on Australian industry is not going to affect the competitiveness of Australian producers," he said. "We will be the only cement producers in the world and the only manufacturing industry in the world that pays a carbon tax. It naturally makes Australian products less competitive and will cost Australian jobs."