Displaying items by tag: Tax

Trinidad & Tobago: The government has reacted to a 15% rise in the price of cement by increasing imports and delaying an increase in taxes on the commodity. The country’s sole producer, Trinidad Cement (TCL), says that its price rise is set to start on 20 December 2021, according to the Trinidad Express newspaper. It has blamed this on mounting input costs such as gas, spare parts and other materials.

However, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) told the cement producer that it viewed any price rise as ‘unacceptable’ given that 90% of inputs to production were local. In response the government has doubled the quota for cement imports to 150,000t in 2022 with each individual importer receiving a 50% boost to their own quotas. It has also agreed with the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to suspend the Common External Tariff (CET) on hydraulic cement and a planned rise in the duty to 20% for one year to the end of 2022.

TCL’s competitor Rock Hard Cement, a cement importer, ended local operations in August 2021 after losing a court case against the country’s Ministry of Trade and Industry in July 2021.

Philippines: The Philippines Department of Trade and Industry has enacted a temporary duty on some imports of cement from Vietnam. The Manila Times newspaper has reported that the measure will be in force until April 2022 and only apply to ‘dumped’ cement. Importers will pay a duty of between US$1.02/t and US$10.50/t on ordinary Portland cement and between US$1.16/t and US$12.80/t on blended cement.

The measure follows a probe carried out on the basis of a petition by domestic cement producers APO Cement, Holcim Philippines, Republic Cement and Solid Cement. The probe found that the domestic cement industry had suffered a loss of market share and declining domestic sales between July 2019 and December 2020.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said "We do not anticipate that these duties will result in an increase in the retail price of cement, because its effect on landed cost is minimal.” He added “Any price increases in imported cement will be discouraged by competition from domestic cement producers. The provisional anti-dumping duties will be imposed only on specific Vietnamese exporters found to be dumping cement to the Philippines. Vietnamese exporters who are not dumping can continue to export cement without having to post the provisional anti-dumping cash bond.”

Pakistan: The government plans to raise the rate of federal excise duty for cement plants operating at less than 100% capacity utilisation. The Dawn newspaper has reported that the measure aims to reduce cement prices in the country. Taxes are currently US$8.55/t of cement produced. In the 2021 financial year, capacity utilisation was at 84% of the available 69.3Mt/yr total capacity. Since the 2017 financial year, it has dropped below 75% in some years. Over the five-year period, the national cement capacity has increased at an average of 8.6% annually.

Ministry of Finance spokesperson Muzzammil Aslam said “Who should we protect: consumers or cement makers? Is it not harmful for the country that they have joined hands and set a higher market price?”

Colombia: Cemex Colombia has received a US$16.8m fine from the Colombian Directorate of National Taxes and Customs (DIAN) for irregularities in its 2012 income tax payment. The company reportedly made an improper imputation of its balance for the year. Cemex Colombia says that it will take the matter to court. It has until March 2022 to file a suit.

Uzbekistan: The government has extended its suspension of tariffs on imports of cement until 1 November 2021. Business World Magazine News has reported that the policy aims to reduce the cost of housing. In order to support the domestic cement industry, producers’ tax rate will be reduced to 15% from 20%. The government will also halve taxes on natural resources.

Spain: The large taxpayers unit of the Tax Agency has imposed a Euro63m fine on Cemex España for issues relating to past tax payments. The El País newspaper has reported that the fine follows an investigation of the company’s corporation tax payments between 2010 and 2014. The agency previously imposed a Euro456m fine on Cemex in 2011 for inflating its losses between 2006 and 2009.

Kenya: A report by the National Independent Clinker Verification Committee has found that the country has a clinker shortage of up to 3.3Mt/yr. It added that 59% of the imported clinker to compensate for this originates from Egypt without any tariffs, according to the East African newspaper. The committee was originally set up by the government in response to lobbying from industry to increase the duty on imported clinker to 25% from 10% at present. However, the committee also reported that Egypt has benefited from a free trade agreement. Local producers are divided against the proposal to raise tariffs on clinker as some of them reply on imports.

The report found that 3.8Mt of clinker was produced locally in 2020 against a demand of 5.3Mt. Local producers were reported to have been operating at a 65% capacity utilisation rate. Egypt and the UAE accounted for 92% of all clinker imports with a further 7% supplied by Saudi Arabia.

Ukraine: The Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade (ICIT) has introduced anti-dumping duties of 33 - 51% on cement imports from Turkey for five years. The rates are variable depending on the specific manufacturer and exporter, according to the Ukrainian News Agency. This follows an investigation that was launched in September 2020 following complaints by local producers including Buzzi-Unicem subsidiary Dyckerhoff, HeidelbergCement subsidiary Kryvyi Rih Cement and CRH subsidiary Podilsky Cement. ICIT concluded that there was the threat of causing ‘significant’ harm to local cement producers due to growing exports from Turkey, large amounts of idle production capacity in Turkey, lowered domestic consumption in Turkey and a pivot of Turkish manufacturers towards export markets.

Uzbekistan: The government has reduced cement producers’ income tax rate to 15% from 1 October 2021. The Uzbekistan Daily newspaper has reported that producers previously paid 20%.The government also halved the tax on limestone to US$2.11/t from US$4.22/t.

Trinidad & Tobago: Barbados-based Rock Hard Cement has ended the operations of its Trinidad & Tobago-based subsidiary Rock Hard Distributors after losing a court case against the country’s Ministry of Trade and Industry in July 2021. The Barbados Today newspaper has reported that chief executive officer Mark Maloney said "Unfortunately, a limit on imports of 75,000t, combined with an import duty of 50%, means that Rock Hard Distributors simply cannot operate in Trinidad." He added, "it is with extreme sadness and disappointment, therefore, that we have closed our business in Trinidad and will now pursue opportunities in other Caribbean countries until such time as we are afforded equal treatment in our home country.”