Vietnam continues to dominate imports in the Philippines

Vietnam’s dominance of cement imports in the Philippines continues to cause concern for local producers. With local demand expected to reach 66Mt in 2025, the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) has revealed data showing that Vietnamese cement accounts for the bulk of cement imports while deliveries from the rest of the world continue to shrink, according to the Manila Bulletin.  

In 2021 the Philippines imported 7.107Mt of cement, of which Vietnam accounted for 6.466Mt. According to CeMAP, Vietnam cornered 91 per cent of total imports in the Philippines both in terms of volume and value, compared to 61 per cent in 2017 and almost zero in 2013. Meanwhile, cement imports from the rest of the world have declined from 2.138Mt in 2019 to just 641,000t in 2021.  

Republic Cement is the latest manufacturer to voice frustration with growing cement imports into the Philippines. According to the company, despite investing around PHP10bn (US$189.14m) in operational improvements to its plants, revenues remain suppressed due to imported cement arriving from Vietnam. Manila Bulletin reports that Republic Cement believes as much as five per cent of its capacity utilisation was affected by dumped cement from Vietnam in 2019, rising to 19 per cent in 2020.