Prices of building materials stable

Philippine cement prices remain stable at P135 per 40-kilogram bag, the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines (CIAP) yesterday said. In a statement, the CIAP, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said reports that prices of construction materials have increased by an average of 20% were "erroneous."  A survey by DTI’s monitoring team last July showed that the "prevailing price of cement," P135.00 per bag, was been unchanged since June.  The DTI has yet to release the results of the August survey.

The CIAP said the National Price Coordinating Council has the sole authority to announce price movements and that it had not authorized anyone to issue a statement on the prices of construction materials.  Reports on rising cement prices came out following the DTI’s Aug. 12 order banning the sale of Solid Cement Corporation’s Island Portland Cement for alleged failure to pass government quality standards.  Solid Cement said it was selling 3,000 tons or 75,000 40-kilogram bags a day before the ban. It placed its market share in Metro Manila at 40%.