BIZ BUZZ: Upside from Trump tariff tantrum
It’s on a 90-day pause for now.
But with the barrage of reciprocal tariffs that US President Donald Trump threatens to impose on the rest of the world, which the Philippines may not be spared from, are we bound to see the spiraling of construction costs?
Not necessarily, the big bosses of two of the country’s largest construction firms told Biz Buzz.
“Most construction materials come from China,” DMCI Holdings chair and CEO Isidro Consunji said. “American tariffs should have no effect on us.”
Edgar Saavedra, cofounder, chair, and president of Megawide Construction Corp., shares the same view. He even sees some upside from the US-China trade war.
“In fact, Chinese suppliers are becoming more aggressive in the Philippine market now, [whereas] we used to be the least prioritized,” Saavedra said.
Saavedra said steel, ore, and coking coal, the main mineral components of construction, are “pretty much stable.”
Because the economy of China is weakening, he noted that its domestic demand is low.
As such, he expects no major inflation for steel. The same is the case with aluminum, he noted.
“For construction materials, since China’s economy is a bit soft—plus [there are] the restrictions on them to export to US and Europe, [sourcing] became favorable to Philippines. We are able to get better prices than before.”
In the residential market, the large stock of unsold inventory should also temper property inflation.
For end-user homebuyers, that’s a bit of relief. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla
READ: The week that Trump pushed the global economy to the brink with tariffs — and then pulled back
TOP on top
Top Line Business Development Corp. has clearly faced some headwinds before its stock market debut.
First, the Cebu-based fuel retailer postponed its November 2024 listing. After that and a series of meetings with potential investors, Top Line decided to cut its initial public offering size and drop plans to buy a fuel depot.
And during its first trading day on Tuesday, it closed down by 3 percent.
But the downtrend was very much short-lived.
In fact, the Lim family-led conglomerate, listed under the ticker “TOP,” closed on Thursday as the Philippine Stock Exchange’s top gainer, with its shares surging by 11.67 percent to P0.335 each.
To add to that, Top Line had fully exercised its oversubscription option to raise the full P732.62 million, all while the world prepared for a global trade war.
We’re hoping that the euphoria at Top Line continues. —Meg J. Adonis
Green SIM cards, anyone?
The world is filled with discarded single-use plastics, and Globe Telecom Inc. is trying to recover some by turning them into SIM (subscriber identity module) cards.
The Ayala-led telco giant said that its SIM cards made from 100-percent recycled plastics are now available to prepaid users.
Previously, the eco-SIMs were only offered to postpaid users in 2022.
“The launch of our eco-SIMs is just one of the many ways Globe is working toward a greener Philippines,” Globe head of consumer mobile business Eric Tanbauco said.
This move is in line with the company’s support of sustainable development goal 12 on responsible consumption and production.
“We continue to look for areas in the business where our practice leads to greater impact,” Globe chief sustainability and corporate communications officer Yoly Crisanto said. —Tyrone Jasper C. Piad
