Displaying items by tag: Philippines

Philippines: Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez has welcomed a Tariff Commission (TC) report that has increased the safeguard duty on imported cement, but noted that his department was still reviewing the evaluations made.

Speaking on 14 August 2019, Lopez said, "We just got the full report on cement from the TC and will study the evaluations made. We welcome the finding that there was injury to the industry and that the safeguard duty should be US$5.65/t or US$0.23/bag (40kg)." The TC report said the US$0.23/bag safeguard duty was the difference between the weighted average landed cost of imported cement and the average domestic ex-plant selling price of the local cement industry for 2018.

Lopez earlier claimed that imports of cement increased from only 3558t in 2013 to more than 3Mt in 2017. The share of imports increased from only 0.02% to 15% during the same period.

Philippines: Eagle Cement’s sales rose by 28% year-on-year to US$202m in the first half of 2019 from US$157m in the same period in 2018. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 21% to US$80.6m.

The company said it was on track to complete a 1.5Mt/yr grinding upgrade to its Bulacan plant in 2020. It added that it was secured approval for a permit to build a port terminal to support its new Line 4 production line at its Cebu plant. Once completed it expects to sell cement in the Visayas region by the end of 2020.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines is promoting its retail mobile app called Easybuild. It is intended to allow customers to place orders, check delivery status and review account history and credit, among others functions. The company has initially partnered with leading financial institution Metrobank for an online payment facility. Nearly 700 customers are using the system. It is the latest version of Holcim Philippines’ online customer service portal, which it pioneered in the cement industry in 2001. Already available for the Android operating system, an iOS version will be launched in August 2019.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines has completed the upgrade to its integrated cement plant at Davao. The expansion involved the activation of a finish mill and installation of a new pipe for loading cement to the silos from the pier, eco-hoppers to improve dust emissions and an overhead crane. Cold commissioning started in April 2019 while full production began in late June 2019. The improvements add 0.7Mt/yr to the cement production of the plant.

The expansion of the Davao plant is part of the company’s on-going program to improve operations to better support the positive growth of Mindanao. In March 2019, the company launched in a new blended cement product, Solido. It also opened its first construction laboratory outside Metro Manila at Davao in 2018. Holcim Philippines will hold a ceremony in August 2019 to inaugurate the facilities with partners from the public and private sector.

Philippines: The Philippine Competition Commission says that its investigation on alleged violations of competitive practice by the cement industry will be kept separate from a review of the acquisition of Holcim Philippines by San Miguel Corporation. The commission made the statement in a reply to questions raised by consumer group Laban ng Konsyumer, according to the Manila Bulletin newspaper. However, the commission’s Mergers and Acquisitions Office said that, although both cases are being considered independently, this would not preclude them from considering the pre-merger activities of the companies.

Philippines: Big Boss Cement has reportedly stopped plans to build a new grinding plant at Bamban in Tarlac province following a series of protests by local residents. Local mayor Jose Feliciano said the cement producer had withdrawn its US$117m investment, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper. The project was going to be built an agricultural land around 0.5km from a school with 4000 students. However, Feliciano noted that the loss of the factory would reduce local municipal funds.

Philippines: The Philippine Cement Importers Association (PCIA) has refuted the claims of local cement manufacturers that an increase in cement imports has caused ‘serious injury’ to their operations. In a position paper submitted to the Tariff Commission on the imposition of safeguard measures on imported cement, the PCIA said that some local producers were reporting continued profits despite the level of imports, according to the Manila Bulletin newspaper. It also denied accusations that cement imports were absorbing 17.2% of local production and 14.2% of total market demand.

"We have a domestic cement industry that is robust and resilient amid the import surge, and already competitive against imports,'' said the PCIA. "The 2013 to 2017 results of operations of the domestic cement industry showed its ability to compete with cement imports. Despite the surge of imports during the period of investigation (2013 - 2017), the domestic industry continued to exhibit improving revenues and continuing profitability." It finished by saying that the Philippine cement industry was globally competitive and did not require any structural adjustment.

Philippines: Eagle Cement says that the opening of its new Malabuyoc integrated 2Mt/yr plant in Cebu has been delayed by six months to mid-2021. The new unit had been scheduled to start operation in late 2020, according to the BusinessWorld newspaper. The holdup has been blamed on delays in obtaining permits for the project. However, the company intends to start selling cement in the Visayas region by the end of 2020 as originally promised.

John Paul L Ang, the president and chief executive Officer (CEO) of Eagle Cement, made the comments at the cement producer’s annual stockholders' meeting. Work on the new plant started in late 2017. Once complete the new line will bring the company’s total cement production capacity to 9.1Mt/yr. The project also includes port facilities and cement terminals that will serve markets in Visayas and Mindanao. Eagle Cement also operates an integrated plant at San Ildefonso, Bulacan and a grinding plant at Bataan.

Philippines: The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CEMAP) says it is confident that the Tariff Commission will increase the duty on imported cement on a permanent basis. In a statement Cirilo M Pestaño II, CEMAP’s executive director, noted that the commission had observed a rise in import volumes since 2016, according to the Manila Bulletin newspaper. He said that the association was confident that the commission would issue a, “ruling consistent with the national interest.” The association added that imports might be good for consumers in the short-term but they were bad for everyone beyond this due to lost economic earnings and reduced industrial production capacity.

Philippines: Republic Cement and Nestlé Philippines have signed an agreement to co-process Nestlé’s post-consumer plastic waste in Republic Cement’s cement kilns. The deal was signed by Nestlé Philippines’ Chairman and CEO Kais Marzouki, its Corporate Affairs Head Attorney Ernesto Mascenon and Republic Cement’s Renato Sunico and Nabil Francis, CEO of Republic Cement Services. In April 2018, Nestlé globally announced a commitment that 100% of its packaging will be recyclable or reusable by 2025. The company's vision is that none of its waste ends up in landfill or as litter.

“Nestlé is aiming for plastic neutrality, essentially recovering plastics equal to what we produce,” said Kais Marzouki. “Aside from our current collection and recycling initiatives, we believe this effort will help us gather and co-process bigger volumes of post-consumer waste. We target to divert more post-consumer waste from landfills and the ocean. This partnership will contribute positively in helping clean up the Philippines.”

“We are happy to partner with Nestlé Philippines and to help address the pollution from residual plastics and sachets,” said Nabil Francis. “This is a win-win situation for us and the environment. Together, we can build a greener, stronger republic.”