Thursday, 24 December 2009 00:00 [ manilatimes.net ]
BY BEN ARNOLD O. DE VERA REPORTER
THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) asked cement manufacturers to explain why they have raised prices and kept supply tight at a time when demand for the commodity is high because of reconstruction work following a series of disastrous typhoons. “We have called the manufacturers to inform them that monitoring reports received from the regional and provincial offices of the DTI in selected areas indicate that the retail price of cement has increased by a range of P10 to P40 over the past week and some of the hardware/outlets do not sell, claiming they have no supply. We are asking for their assessment of the situation in the market,” Trade Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said in a statement on Wednesday.
DTI said cement manufacturers Cemex and Holcim informed the agency that they have not adjusted their prices since October last year, while La Farge said it implemented a P3 increase because of rising production costs.
The department said some manufacturers blamed the tight supply on the temporary shutdown Cemex’s plants in Rizal, as well as Holcim and La Farge’s facilities in Bulacan.
The companies said these facilities are undergoing annual preventive maintenance.
La Farge said their deliveries to Metro Manila from Batangas were delayed because of the collapse of a bridge following Typhoon Santi, thus reducing the delivery of Republic cement from 60,000 bags a day before the typhoon, to only 20,000 bags in recent weeks.
Maglaya said DTI would verify the information provided by the manufacturers. She said the department would conduct spot inspections of the cement plants that are supposed to be undergoing maintenance.
“If the plant is really on shutdown, DTI monitoring teams are to gather information on the date when it was closed, the reason, and until when it will remain closed,” the official said.
The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines have petitioned the Tariff Commission, seeking a restoration of a 5-percent tariff on cement clinkers, Portland cement and other hydraulic cements.
In November last year, President Gloria Arroyo had signed Executive Orders (EOs) 765 and 766, which brought down to zero the tariff on wheat and cement, respectively, for six months. The government had said that this was done to bring down bread and cement prices.
In July, the President signed EOs 818 and 819, which extended for six more months the duty-free importation of milling wheat and cement. These latest Palace directives would expire in January next year.
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