The Philippines Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has decided to impose provisional safeguard measures on cement imported from various countries, including Viet Nam.

The provisional safeguard measures will be in the form of a cash bond of 210 pesos (US$4) per tonne of imported cement with tariff classification codes 2523.2990 and 2523.9000 for a period of 200 days.

According to the DTI, increased imports of cement were a substantial cause of serious injury to the domestic industry.

The preliminary investigation found that the volume of cement imports increased continuously in the period of investigation from 2013 to 2017, by 70 per cent in 2014, 4,401 per cent in 2015, 550 per cent in 2016 and 72 per cent in 2017. The share of imports also increased during the period of investigation, from 0.02 per cent in 2013 t o 15 per cent in 2017.

The domestic industry suffered a decline of 12 per cent in sales revenue in 2017 and 49 per cent decline in earnings. In addition, domestic cement manufacturers had been forced to reduce prices by almost 10 per cent to compete with lower-priced imported cement.

A review will be conducted to determine if the continued imposition of the provisional measures would serve public interest while the case records would be transmitted to the Tariff Commission for formal investigation to determine whether or not there is a need to impose definitive safeguard measures, according to DTI.

DTI statistics showed that Viet Nam accounted for the largest share of the Philippines’s cement imports during the period of review.

Viet Nam entered the market in 2014 with the highest share of 4,000 tonnes (66 per cent) of the country’s cement imports.

In 2015, Viet Nam increased its share to 99.69 per cent of total imports and continued to be the dominant supplier in 2016 and 2017 with shares of 88 per cent and 72 per cent.

From January – April 2018, cement imports from Viet Nam accounted for 75 per cent of the total. — VNS