After the word spread that the government of Indonesia will reevaluate its export ban on mineral ore, Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources announced it will soon open room for exports of iron sand (a type of sand with heavy concentrations of iron). Bambang Gatot, Director General for Coal and Minerals at the Energy Ministry, said exporters will have to pay export duties but declined to inform about the exact amount. He did say, however, that the mechanism will be similar to the export duty mechanism used for other concentrate exports (including copper) in the "post-New Mining Law era".

Read column ›

With Indonesia's construction and infrastructure sectors expected to grow in 2016, backed by government support, Indonesia-based steel pipe manufacturer Steel Pipe Industry of Indonesia should manage to see higher net profit this year. The company, with its factories in Sidoarjo and Surabaya (East Java), has the largest steel pipe production capacity of all steel pipe producers in Indonesia. With its six factories - and 34 production lines - the company's production capacity currently stands at 588,600 metric tons per year.

Read column ›

Investment in Indonesia's furniture and handicraft industries is expected to slow in 2016 due to subdued global demand and the lower competitiveness of these industries in Indonesia. Local furniture companies are moving away to Vietnam due to issues related to logistics costs, minimum wages and workers' productivity. For example, Taiwan-based Woodworth Wooden Industries Indonesia, the first Taiwanese furniture company that entered Indonesia (with a USD $40 million investment), decided to exit Indonesia, leaving 200 workers unemployed.

Read column ›

The year 2015 was a sluggish year for Indonesia's cement industry amid the country's slowing economic growth. Total cement sales only rose 1.8 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 61 million tons, the slowest growth pace since 2009. In the first month of 2016, however, a positive sign was detected. Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said Indonesian cement sales rose 4.4 percent (y/y) to 5.14 million tons in January 2016 (from the same month one year earlier) on the back of government-led infrastructure development.

Read column ›