The Today's Headlines section of Indonesia Investments is a daily updated section which contains the latest information with regard to topics that are currently causing headlines in Indonesia's media. Most of our headlines will 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.
Coal imports into China are expected to recover in the last two months of the year and therefore various analysts say the coal price is able to touch beyond USD $97 per ton before the year-end. In October coal imports into China - the world's largest coal importer - had fallen by a whopping 24 percent (m/m) to 21.3 million tons due to the availability of plenty domestic coal supplies.
The Indonesian government sign an agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for a soft loan related to the funding of two national strategic priority projects. The government will borrow 127.2 billion Japanese yen (approx. USD $1.1 billion) for the construction of the Patimban Seaport in West Java (USD $1.05 billion) and for turning the Gadjah Mada University into a world class university (USD $66.67 million).
Demand for cement in Indonesia is rising ahead of the year-end. Growing cement demand is attributed to the speeding up of construction of several national strategic infrastructure projects. Widodo Santoso, General Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said cement consumption in Indonesia rose 12.5 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 6.76 million tons in October 2017.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released several preliminary statements related to the latest visit of a IMF team, led by Luis E. Breuer, to Indonesia (the visit took place between 1 - 14 November 2017). Overall, the team sees the continuation of good economic growth in Indonesia, supported by prudent macroeconomic policies, improved global GDP growth and rising commodity prices, as well as sustained efforts to strengthen the nation's competitiveness.
