Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Cement importation urged to contain soaring prices
KORONADAL CITY -- A consumer group here has urged the importation of cement to contain soaring prices of the product across Central Mindanao region, officials said.
Based on the price monitoring activities conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry last week, the price of cement in the different parts of the region surged by as much as seven percent, or P13 per bag.
"Data that we gathered through our different field offices showed that current price of a bag of cement in the region is ranging from P191 to P195," said Ibrahim K. Guiamadel, regional trade department director.
Last month, cement prices in the area ranged from only P178 to P186 per bag, he added.
Guiamadel said they will investigate why prices of cement products have gone up in the region, although the regional office initially believed that high oil prices may have been a factor.
Silverio Tandog, Koronadal City Consumers Association spokesperson, said hiking prices of cement can be curbed if imported cement will be available in the area.
The group asked the trade department for its cement importation data.
But the trade department's field office in nearby General Santos City, the traditional transshipment point for the region, has no records of cement importation for almost two years now, Guiamadel said.
"We asked the importation data from DTI because we, consumers, know that importation of cement would cause competitive cement pricing," Tandog said.
"As long as the imported cement does not compromise the product standard set by the government, why not encourage importation? At the end of the day, importation of certified cement is beneficial not only to the construction industry but to us ordinary consumers," he added.
Cement products distributed in Central Mindanao region are largely coming from Davao City, where Holcim Philippines, Inc. operates a production plant.
Guiamadel said they have been in contact with Holcim officials in Mindanao and were told that the company has increased the price of cement by eight pesos per bag due to the increase of fuel prices in the world market.
This information, however, could not be immediately verified with Holcim officials.
Holcim's Davao plant supplies cement not only to markets in southern and Central Mindanao but also in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm).
Guiamadel said the transport cost of retailers also contributes to the increasing prices of cement in the region.
In May 2006, the region experienced a temporary cement supply shortage after Holcim's Davao plant suffered technical glitches.
Due to the limited supply, field offices of the trade department became distribution centers after unscrupulous traders took advantage of the situation reportedly by jacking up retail prices.
Central Mindanao, composed of four provinces and five cities, has an average daily minimum cement requirement of 70,000 bags, an earlier report from the regional trade office said. (BSS)
