[ Manila Bulletin Online ] March 26, 2008
By ANA MARIE MACUJA
The government is considering an option to temporarily lift the tariff on imported cement in a move to boost infrastructure development in the country.
A well-placed source from the Department of Trade and Industry said zero tariff on imported cement is among the options being looked into by the government aside from the possible inclusion of cement manufacturing in the draft 2008 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) under engineered products.
The tariff on cement coming from within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is currently at three percent, while those coming from elsewhere is at five percent.
By allowing imported cement to come in at zero duties, local users would have the option to buy cement from offshore sources if this would prove cheaper than buying locally manufactured cement.
The source said government is now studying how to make use of BoI’s incentive scheme to lower or maintain the prices of basic construction materials, such as cement and steel.
However, the source said cement’s inclusion in the proposed 2008 IPP would depend largely on the commodity’s price.
"It depends on whether cement prices go up. If cement prices increase, then we will encourage new investments. We will encourage them to build new cement plans," the source added.
The BoI is now considering granting incentives to new cement projects under engineered products, one of the six sectors included in the draft 2008 IPP.
Cement manufacturing was included in the 2007 IPP, prompting the entry of South Western Cement Corp. of the Yuchengco group, which invested P12.12 billion to construct a cement facility, and Bulacan of Eagle Cement Co., which cashed-out P6 billion to put up a new plant.
The BoI has earlier said the entry of new players would not only promote competition in the industry, but would also increase capacity, which would eventually lower the price of cement.
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