• Stock Market & Rupiah Update Indonesia: Asia Extends Selloff

    In line with the performance of US stocks overnight, Asian stocks plunged to a six-week low on Wednesday morning (14/09), while Asian currencies are under similar pressure. Investors have become increasingly concerned about weaker-than-estimated growth, while confidence in central banks' efforts to boost economies fades. Meanwhile, there remains a high degree of uncertainty about a looming interest rate hike in the United States. In Asia losses were extended as higher bond yields and excessive volatility encourage investors to unwind positions.

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  • Port Infrastructure Indonesia: 1st Terminal New Priok Port Completed

    Indonesian President Joko Widodo witnessed the inauguration of the first newly built container terminal, part of the New Priok Port, an extension of Indonesia's busiest port (Tanjung Priok) in North Jakarta, on Tuesday (13/09). At this occasion Widodo urged the developers of the New Priok Port to speed up construction of the port so that phase one can be completed by 2019. The New Priok Port, consisting of three phases, will relieve the overloaded systems at the existing Tanjung Priok port and bring Indonesia's port facilities on par with other world-class ports.

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  • DBS Group: Indonesia's Coal Mining Sector in a Challenging Environment

    The DBS Group Research expects that the coal price will remain in the range of USD $60 - $65 per metric ton in the second half of 2016. Given that coal demand from China remains bleak (as authorities are eager to meet environmental accords) chances are slim that the coal price can manage to go higher. For Indonesia, a country that - in terms of commodity exports - is highly dependent on coal and crude palm oil, it means challenges remain despite the recently sharply rebounding coal prices.

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  • Is the Ceramic Industry of Indonesia in Danger?

    Indonesia's ceramic industry has cut utilization of its total installed production capacity to the range of 30 - 50 percent, implying that ceramic manufacturers in Southeast Asia's largest economy are producing less than half of what they could produce. Low utilization of production capacity is the result of weakening ceramic sales over the past couple of years (mainly due to the sluggishly performing property sector of Indonesia). Some ceramic producers have slashed prices by up to 20 percent in a bid to boost sales and reduce stockpiles of ceramics at their warehouses.

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