Displaying items by tag: Department of Trade and Industry

Philippines: The National Consumer Affairs Council (NCAC) has warned that around 150,000 bags of cement being sold might be contaminated with seawater. NCAC chairman Jose Paredes Pepito said the contaminated cement entered stores after a ship carrying cement from Vietnam encountered a leak that caused 6000t of cement to get wet, according to the Philippines Star newspaper. The imported cement is part of a 25,000t shipment of Halong brand cement which was unloaded in La Union in March 2016.

“Besides, re-bagged cement should not be sold unless first tested by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Unfortunately, the DTI does not know the location of the 150,000 bags at this point. In the meantime, the public should be very careful when choosing the cement products that they buy in the local market,” said Pepito. He added that the contaminated cement is considered substandard and dangerous if used for construction.

Philippines: The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has asked cement producers to explain differences in cement prices in certain areas of the country. Price monitoring by the DTI has spotted discrepancies between the high price of cement in Region XII, specifically in Cotabato City, and the National Capitol Region compared to a relative low price in Cebu since January 2016, according to the Philippines Star newspaper.

The DTI has asked cement producers, including Holcim Philippines, Eagle Cement Corp., Lafarge Republic and Cemex Philippines to respond about the prices of their local brands Holcim Excel, Advance, Republic, and Rizal and Apo, respectively. Cement traders such as Bojourno Trading, Summit Koncrete Products and Cohaco Merchandising & Development have also been requested to submit their response for the prices of the imported Halong, Thang Long and Conch cement brands.

Philippines: The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has asked cement producers in the Philippines to justify recent price hikes that led prices to exceed the suggested levels set by the agency.

Trade Undersecretary Zenaida C Maglaya said the three largest cement firms in the country - Holcim Philippines, Lafarge Republic, Cemex Philippines - have started submitting documents to support adjustments in their prices. Eagle Cement is set to meet with DTI and Board of Investment (BOI) officials to explain its pricing scheme. Maglaya said one of the large cement manufacturers had made a submission but had yet to complete all requested data due to 'antitrust issues', referring to laws addressing anti-competitive behavior among corporations.

In April 2013, Maglaya said that cement companies had increased their prices due to the higher cost of coal, a raw material that accounted for about 25% of the cement industry's manufacturing costs. Holcim reportedly raised its price by 11%, Lafarge by 7%, Cemex by 15% and Eagle Cement by 5%.

In 2012, the Cement Manufacturers' Association of the Philippines (Cemap) reported record-high sales of 18.4Mt, up by 17.5% from 15.6Mt in 2011. This was due to the boom in public and private construction projects. In the fourth quarter of 2012, 4.4Mt of cement were sold compared to 4Mt in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Philippines: Cement producers in the Philippines have asked the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to impose mandatory standards on the raw materials used to ensure that quality standards are being followed. These standards would also effect producers of finished products that make significant use of cement. DTI Undersecretary for consumer welfare, Zenaida C Maglaya, made the announcement following a recent meeting of Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP).

According to Maglaya, CeMAP would like raw materials such as fly ash and aggregates to be placed under mandatory standards following complaints from contractors working on infrastructure projects. CeMAP said it will take years to find out the impact of poor quality fly ash. "We are asking CeMAP to submit their study because this is a technical issue," Maglaya said.

Maglaya explained that the standards for raw materials for cement are voluntary under the Philippine law. Being voluntary, Maglaya said, the responsibility lies on the end manufacturer although this can still be raised before the DTI. The move to standardise raw materials of cement and end-products using cement has followed a crackdown by the Department of Public Works and Highways against contractors of government infrastructure projects.