Displaying items by tag: Asean Free Trade Area

Asia: Three national sustainability certification providers have signed a tripartite mutual recognition agreement for harmonised green label criteria for cement products. Ecolabel Sri Lanka, the Singapore Green Labelling Scheme and Thai Green Label agreed to the mutual recognition of each other’s certification of cement. Through the collaboration, the bodies aim to enhance market access to environmentally preferable products across South and South East Asia, Daily FT News has reported.

Asia: South East Asia's regional cement association, the ASEAN Federation of Cement Manufacturers (AFCM), has launched its AFCM 2035 Roadmap at its 46th Council Meeting at the Rizqun International Hotel in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. Under the roadmap, AFCM members will achieve a cumulative 38Mt reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2035. Efforts will unfold under four priority areas: promoting low-carbon cement, advancing the energy transition, maximising supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) and adopting deep decarbonisation technologies. The council meeting served the members to help align their strategies, including through the proposed establishment of a unified emissions reporting system.

Indonesia: The Indonesia government says that it will ask for compensation if the Philippines Tariff Commission extends tariffs on cement. The Manila Bulletin newspaper has reported that the government suggested that the fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member state should take more targeted measures against any country responsible for cement dumping, in line with the bloc’s rules.

In 2019 – 2021, Indonesia exported 532,000t of cement to the Philippines, constituting 2.7% of the country’s cement imports. Vietnam, meanwhile, exported 15.8Mt (80%).

Philippines: The Philippines imported 6.47Mt of cement from Vietnam in 2021, 91% of a total 7.11Mt of cement imported in the year. The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) recorded that total imports increased by 14% year-on-year from 6.25Mt of cement in 2020, while imports from Vietnam increased by 20% year-on-year from 5.4Mt.

The Manila Bulletin newspaper has reported that Philippine cement producers increased their production capacity by 23% year-on-year to 35.3Mt/yr at the beginning of 2022. CeMAP projected further capacity growth of 55% to 54.8Mt/yr by the end of 2025, against a domestic demand that year of 66Mt/yr.