With the anti-dumping case against Taiwan still unresolved, the local cement industry is facing another threat, this time from Indonesian cement which has been flooding markets in Visaya and Mindanao since April, according to the Philippine Star.

Cement industry sources said the DTI is poised to investigate reports that Indonesian cement is being imported and sold at dumped prices.

The importation of cement from Indonesia started shortly after Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II told local cement dealers and contractors that they could import from Indonesian sources in order to force down the prices of domestic cement that was on a steady upswing at the time.

Roxas told local contractors and cement users that since the cement industry has been liberalized, cement can be imported from any source as long as they do not violate the country's anti-dumping laws.

Following this pronouncement, imported cement has been coming in from Indonesia while importations from Japan and Taiwan had been increasing. The industry projected that imported cement would soon account for 70% of the supply in metro Manila by the end of the year. Currently, the industry said imported cement accounts for 55% of this market, mostly from Taiwan and Japan with Indonesia emerging swiftly as the third biggest source.