DTI imposes definitive anti-dumping duty on Vietnam exporters

The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) welcomed the imposition of definitive anti-dumping duties against cement imports from Vietnam, according to a report in the Manila Bulletin.

In a statement, CeMAP reiterated its view that there is sufficient domestic capacity to serve local demand for cement. It claimed that even without cement imports, the domestic industry is highly competitive with 14 integrated cement plants operating in the country, with further capacity under construction.

The Department of Trade of Industry (DTI) has issued Department Administrative Order 22-17 on December 16, 2022, imposing Definitive Anti-Dumping Duty against Importations of Type 1 and Type 1P cement from certain exporting manufacturers and traders in Vietnam. The DAO concurs with the Tariff Commission's recommendation to impose anti-dumping duties because of the existence of imminent threat of material injury to the domestic cement industry.

As stated in the Order, the DTI reviewed the recommendation of the Commission and imposed the Definitive anti-dumping duties for a period of five years on imports of Ordinary Portland Cement Type 1 and Blended Cement Type 1P originating from certain exporters / manufacturers from Vietnam.

According to its estimates presented during the Tariff Commission's Public Hearing on Anti-Dumping, domestic cement capacity stands at 46.8Mta versus an apparent consumption reported by the Tariff Commission of 28.7Mta for the year 2021.

Local manufacturers also continue to expand the capacity of their plants and upgrade existing facilities in order to satisfy market demand. This provides reassurance on the stability of supply.

In July 2019 to December 2020, the period of investigation for dumping determination, DTI noted of price differences between the normal values and export prices to the Philippines of Ordinary Portland Cement Type1 and Blended Cement Type 1P originating from Vietnam.

The volume of imports of Ordinary Portland Cement Type 1 and Blended Cement Type 1P at dumped prices reportedly accounted for 53 percent of total Philippine cement imports from July 2019 to December 2020.

The DTI order has identified 11 Vietnamese exporters for dumping cement into the country. The anti-dumping duty, which is company specific, ranges from US$1.61/t to a high of US$16.42/t of imported cement from the identified firms. All other exporters that were not identified have rates of US$10.29/t to US$16.42/t.