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The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recently ordered the imposition of provisional safeguard duties on imports of ordinary Portland cement and blended cement at the rate of P400 per metric ton or P16 per 40 kg bag for 200 days, which should provide the local cement industry much-needed breathing space from the influx of imported cement mostly from Vietnam.
The DTI, following a preliminary investigation on safeguard measures, noted that during the period of investigation (POI) from 2019 to June 2024, the significant increase in the volume of imported cement during the said period preceded the serious injury to the industry in 2023.
It explained that while the apparent market contracted throughout the POI, except in 2021 when the economy started recovering from the pandemic, the market share of local cement producers decreased during the POI from 78 percent in 2019 to almost 68 percent in 2023 as imports displaced locally produced cement from approximately 22 percent market share of imports in 2019 to 32 percent in 2023.
It noted that as a result, the domestic industry suffered serious injury by experiencing declining sales, production, capacity utilization, profitability and employment except in 2021.
The department also pointed out that the condition of the domestic cement industry worsened in 2023 when imports recorded its highest market share at 32 percent while the local industry shrank to its lowest level of sales. It added that the domestic industry’s lowered price even with the rising cost of production to compete with imported cement, has impacted the domestic industry’s profitability, recording its first operating loss in the POI.
The local industry’s operating profit dropped by 11 percent in 2020, by 69 percent in 2022 and by 137 percent in 2023 to register an operating loss.
The case has now been transmitted to the Tariff Commission which will determine, after the conduct of a formal investigation and public hearings, whether or not there is a need to impose a definitive safeguard measure.
More than 93 percent of imported cement entering the country comes from Vietnam. In 2020, cement imports increased by 10 percent; in 2021, by 17 percent; in 2023, by five percent and from January to June 2024 by 52 percent.
Because of increased imports of cement, the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) said that local production currently operates at only 55 to 60 percent of its installed capacity, which has increased production costs and forced temporary shutdowns of some plants.
Definitive anti-dumping duties were earlier imposed on imports of ordinary Portland Cement Type 1 and Blended Cement Type 1P originating from Vietnam beginning 2023 for a period of five years after a number of importers were found to be selling imported cement at dumped prices or at prices below their normal value in the exporting country.
Mr. Turnaround
Lorenzo Tan, president and CEO of the Yuchengco-led House of Investments Inc. (HII), was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for 2025 by Lourdes School of Quezon City.
The 63-year-old banker made headlines when he became the youngest president of a universal bank in the country at the age of 37.
Tan is credited for having led the transformation of financial giants like the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB), Philippine National Bank (PNB), Sun Life Financial and the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) from struggling to thriving entities, earning him the monickers “The Miracle Man” and “The Turnaround Expert or Mr. Turnaround.”
Tan’s banking career spans the United States and Asia, focusing on risk management and opportunity creation. He held various positions in Citibank N.A. and Citibank Singapore from 1987 to 1985 and was former president of UCPB, vice chairman of UCPB Savings Bank and UCPB Rural Bank, president of RCBC for nine years during which the company attained unprecedented net income growths, and president of PNB where he successfully enabled the bank to turn in a profit in 2003 after five years of successive losses.
He was also the president of the Bankers Association of the Philippines from 2013 to 2016 and chairman of the Asian Bankers Association from 2012 to 2014.
A graduate of De La Salle University and the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, Tan was president of UCPB from 1998 to 2002, of PNB from 2002 to 2005, of Sun Life Financial from 2005 to 2007 and of RCBC from 2007 to 2016.
He was also a board member of various corporations, including Smart Communications, Malayan Insurance, EEI Corp., Sunlife GrepaFinancial, DigiTel Corp., Voyager Innovations, Philippine Realty & Holdings Corp., among others.
Prior to his appointment as HII’s president and CEO, Tan served as managing director in Primeiro Partners, a leading independent investment bank focused on the Asia-Pacific region.
He even once worked closely with now US President Donald Trump during the latter’s financial challenges.
Tan attributes his success to his upbringing by educator parents. His mother was a valedictorian, summa cum laude and a board topnotcher, while his father is a distinguished CPA-lawyer who founded the Philippine School of Business Administration.
Tan also credits the academic pressure from his high-achieving brothers. His brother Nestor, now the president of Banco de Oro, is a cum laude graduate from De La Salle University and holds an MBA from the prestigious Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. His other brother, Raul, was the country’s math wizard of his time, achieving accelerated academic milestones that placed him at the top of his class. Tan humorously notes that while he was strong academically, he was the more social one among his siblings, often preferring the company of those with a vibrant social life.
Tan emphasizes that success isn’t solely about intelligence but also about having a strong “survival quotient,” which he developed by interacting with diverse groups. This message resonated at the award ceremony, potentially inspiring future curriculum adjustments at his alma mater.
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