Solid Cement may have to close

Solid Cement Corp, a Philippine unit of Mexico’s Cemex said it may have to shut down its cement plant next week unless the government lifts its order for the company to stop selling its products.

The Department of Trade and Industry on Aug. 12 ordered Solid Cement to stop its cement sales after its products failed government quality standard testing.

 Quality testing was conducted at the request of the Department of Public Works and Highways, which uses Solid Cement’s Island brand for its infrastructure projects. The trade department said the tests showed Island brand is sub-standard, a finding that Solid Cement is disputing.

Solid Cement spokesman Paul Victor Aquino said the company has offered to conduct product and plant tests to prove that its cement is up to standard. The company continues to produce cement despite the stop-sale order, in the process building up inventory and constricting storage space.

"We estimate we will run out of storage space by Monday," said Aquino, adding that without storage space, the company will have to shut down its plant.

Solid Cement produces around 75,000 bags of cement daily, with each bag holding 40 kilograms of cement worth around 130 pesos ($1=PHP56.045). Solid Cement supplies around nine per cent of the country’s cement requirements and close to 40 per cent of Metro Manila’s. Some 300 workers are employed at the cement plant.