The Today's Headlines section of Indonesia Investments is a regularly updated section which contains the latest information with regard to topics that are currently causing headlines in Indonesia's media. Most of our headlines cover political, economic and social matters. As a consequence of their recent nature, these topics may not have crystallized fully yet and can, therefore, lack a profound analysis. For publications with a more in-depth understanding of subjects, we refer you to our News, Financial or Business columns.
Exports of Indonesian motorcycles surged 46.1 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 226,444 units in the January-May 2018 period (from 155,034 exported motorcycles in the first five months of 2017), according to the latest data from the Indonesian Motorcycle Industry Association (AISI). Sigit Kumala, Commercial Head at AISI, sees three reasons behind the robustly growing amount of motorcycle exports from Southeast Asia's largest economy.
GE Indonesia, the local unit of American multinational conglomerate General Electric Company (GE), plans to sell 3D printing products on the Indonesian market starting from the third quarter of 2018. At first the company will focus on metal product printers, specifically for the automotive and machine industries. It is part of the company's target to become the leading company in 3D printing in Indonesia.
So far 2018 has been a great year in terms of initial public offerings (IPOs) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. A total of 20 companies became publicly-listed companies in Indonesia in the first five months of 2018, thus there are now a total of 584 listed companies on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Actually it is still a relatively low number compared to its regional peers and therefore local authorities continue to encourage more IPOs in an effort to deepen the country's financial markets.
The wide gap between total national installed cement production capacity and total domestic cement demand will continue to put pressure on Indonesia's cement industry in the foreseeable future. While all local cement manufacturers together are now able to produce a total of 108 million tons of cement per year, domestic cement demand in Indonesia is only expected to reach 68-70 million tons in 2018. Hence, there exists a major oversupply of cement; an oversupply that puts pressure on cement companies' corporate earnings.
