AN IMPORTER of cement from Vietnam said the industry is being treated unfairly because anti-dumping duties have been imposed on such imports even though the investigation into the actual harm done to domestic producers is only in its preliminary stages.
“(The Department of Trade and Industry [DTI] has imposed) the dumping duty even though the investigation is ongoing. It’s prejudice against foreign cement producers,” Joel R. Butuyan, counsel for Omanco Material Vietnam Ltd. Co., told BusinessWorld by telephone.
Mr. Butuyan had represented his company virtually Monday in a preliminary conference before the Tariff Commission.
The Tariff commission said at the conference that it does not have the authority to revoke the anti-dumping duty order issued by the DTI.
Omanco Material Vietnam is one of the Vietnamese cement companies subjected to four-month temporary anti-dumping duties imposed by the DTI on December 6.
The department was reacting to a petition filed by domestic cement manufacturers Republic Cement & Building Materials, Inc., CEMEX Philippines Holdings, Inc. subsidiaries Solid Cement Corp. and Apo Cement Corp., and Holcim Philippines, Inc. The domestic companies submitted the results of their preliminary investigation on Vietnamese cement.
The estimated dumping margin for Type 1 cement (also known as Portland) imports from Vietnam ranges from $1.02 per metric ton (MT) to $10.53 per MT, equivalent to 2.69%-31.87% of the export price. — Marielle C. Lucenio