DTI reviews cement import duty

The Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has ordered that, for the second year of the three-year implementation period of the safeguard measure against imported cement, a PHP9.80 (US$0.2) duty will be imposed on every 40kg bag of imported cement or PHP245/t.

The second-year duty covers cement imports from various countries from 22 October 2020 to 21 October 2021, according to the Manila Bulletin.

For the first year, the DTI imposed a safeguard duty of PHP10/40kg bag and was due to reduce it to PHP9/40kg bag in the second year. However, it later reviewed the lower duty following a petition by the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP).

The DTI stated that in the 8M20 alone imports already accounted for 79 per cent of the volumes seen last year, despite the pandemic. Therefore, cement imports this year are expected to rise by nine per cent YoY.