Cement price rise concerns Philippine housing developers

Housing developers in the Philippines have become alarmed at the sudden rise in cement prices in the last few weeks. The Organization of Socialized and Economic Housing Developers of the Philippines (OSHDP) and the Socialized Housing Alliance Roundtable Endeavour (SHARE), an association of non-government organisations (NGOs) engaged in housing development, reported that teh hikes in price of the commodity and shortages were of concern.

Cement prices for 40kg bags jumped from PHP205 (US$3.87) to PHP225 (US$4.35) in the last two weeks. Housing developers were surprised about this development as cement prices were fairly stable in 2015 and 2016. The government and private sector have high demand for cement because of the housing backlog of 6.5m housing units, while the government is also trying to keep its PHP8-9trn 'Build, Build, Build' infrastructure programme for 2017-22 on course.