APO Cement Corp. on Monday announced the temporary suspension of its Davao terminal operations, citing rising costs along with decreased volumes due to the continued influx of imported supply from Vietnam.
“Our operational costs in maintaining the Davao terminal have increased and continue to increase, while our volumes are decreasing due to the unabated entry of cement imports from Vietnam. Given these, we are constrained to suspend terminal operations in Davao,” Apo Cement Vice President for Supply Chain Edwin Hufemia said in a statement.
The company, one of the principal operating subsidiaries of Cemex Holdings Philippines, Inc., noted that a petition for anti-dumping filed by local cement manufacturers against imported cement from Vietnam is pending before the Tariff Commission.
The Department of Trade and Industry imposed provisional anti-dumping duties last year on specific cement brands imported from Vietnam after conducting a preliminary determination on anti-dumping, it said.
Mr. Hufemia said the temporary closure of the Davao facility “will allow us to continue focusing on efficiently running our plant and other terminals and warehouses in order to cope with these current challenges.”
The Davao terminal had a dispatching capacity estimated at 25,000 bags daily.
The Apo Cement official gave assurance that “there will be no disruption on the supply and delivery of our cement” despite the halt in its Davao operations.