DTI reports that cement prices remain stable

Cement prices in the Philippines are holding firm despite some rumours of cement shortages, says the Department of Trade and Industry Regional Consumer Protection Division and Provisional Office (DTI). The wholesale price of a 40kg bag of cement is being sold at around PHP222 (US$4.26) and the retail price is being set at around PHP230-235.

In January 2019, the DTI reported that retail prices of cement ranged from PHP220-230 in Bulacan, PHP220-250 in Nueva Ecija, PHP227-240 in Batan, PHP230-245 in Pampagna, PHP230-250 in Zambles, PHP240-255 in Tarlac and PHP242-255 in Aurora. In other regions the price for a 40kg bag of cement ranged between PHP205-380.

The DTI said the present domestic capacity of 35Mta is enough to meet growing local demand with various cement capacity projects being carried out over the next three to five years. Holcim completed the upgrade of its Bacnotan plant in February 2019 to increase capacity from 1Mta to 1.8Mta and the company is raising its national capacity by 30 per cent to 13Mta by 2020. The second phase of investments will see new kilns, mills and a waste-recovery system installed at the company's plants in Bulacan and Misamis Oriental provinces.

Meanwhile, Cemex Holdings Philippines is spending PHP7.5bn on the expansion of its Antipolo cement plant and US$235m to raise the Solid cement plant's capacity to 1.9Mta.