Cement sales in Indonesia rose 3 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 4.45 million tons in February 2016 from the same month one year earlier. Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said Indonesia's rising cement sales were caused by the ongoing development of infrastructure projects across the archipelago. Three regions showed a marked increase in cement sales last month: Sumatra (+16.5 percent y/y to 2.13 million tons), Sulawesi (+33 percent y/y to 841,000 tons) and the Moluccas & Papua (+31 percent y/y to 125,000 tons).

Read more ›

The start of infrastructure projects in Indonesia - ranging from roads, bridges, power plants, smelters, and public housing - has managed to boost cement consumption in the first month of 2016. Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said domestic cement consumption in Indonesia rose 4.4 percent (y/y) to 5.14 million tons in January 2016 from the same month one year earlier. Highest growth in consumption occurred in Sumatra (+15.8 percent y/y to 1.1 million tons), Java (+5.3 percent y/y to 2.9 million tons) and Sulawesi (+19 percent y/y to 424,000 tons).

Read more ›

Indonesia's cement sales totaled 61 million tons in 2015, up 1.8 percent from sales in 2014. Although the pace of growth is limited, the final result was well received by stakeholders and policymakers because in the first half of 2015 the nation's cement sales growth still stood at -1.5 percent on a year-on-year basis due to a delay in government-led infrastructure development. In the second half of the year there occurred a surge in infrastructure development projects, hence triggering higher cement sales.

Read more ›

The push for government-led infrastructure development across Indonesia, which started from mid-2015, is expected to cause rising cement sales in Indonesia in 2016. The Indonesian Cement Association (ASI) expects to see a 5 percentage point growth in Indonesian cement sales to 64.5 million tons this year (from an estimated 61.5 million tons in 2015). However, ASI Chairman Widodo Santoso emphasized that a delay in government spending could jeopardize achieving the sales projection.

Read more ›

Cement sales in Indonesia climbed 4.7 percent (y/y) to 6.1 million tons in November 2015 supported by rising cement sales in all regions apart from the Moluccas and Papua. Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said domestic cement demand rose sharply in November despite seeing some rainfall (which usually leads to delays in development of infrastructure and other construction projects). Santoso says this rise is due to improved government spending on infrastructure projects.

Read more ›

According to the latest data from the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), Indonesia's cement sales climbed 10.7 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 6.4 million tons in October 2015 as government-related infrastructure development has picked up in the second half of the year (cement sales only contracted on the island of Kalimantan in October). Cement sales are an interesting indicator as they provide valuable information about the country's household consumption and investment in property and infrastructure sectors.

Read more ›

In the first seven months of 2015 Indonesian cement sales continued to fall, signalling decreased property and infrastructure development in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Domestic cement sales fell 4.1 percent to 31.3 metric tons in the January-July 2015 period from the same period last year. Apart from the slowing economy (which slowed to a six-year low in the second quarter of 2015), weakening cement sales in July were also caused by Idul Fitri celebrations when business traditionally comes to a near standstill.

Read more ›

Two important indicators to measure the condition of an economy are car and cement sales as both statistics provide valuable information about people’s purchasing power (and consumer confidence) as well as infrastructure and property development. In the first quarter of 2015, Indonesia’s car and cement sales declined (compared to the same period in the preceding year), triggering concern that economic growth will fall accordingly. In the first quarter of 2014, Indonesia’s GDP growth had already slowed to 5.14 percent (y/y).

Read more ›

According to the latest survey of Bank Indonesia (the central bank of Indonesia), the country’s January retail sales accelerated 10.4 percent year-on-year (y/y), up from the 3.3 percentage point growth pace (y/y) in the preceding month. Retail sales in the first month of the year in Southeast Asia’s largest economy accelerated because of higher sales of information & communication equipment (+29.9 percent y/y) as well as food, beverages & tobacco products (+15.1 percent y/y).

Read more ›

Indonesian cement sales in 2014 reached 59.9 million metric tons, up 3.3 percent from domestic sales in the previous year but below the target that was set by the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI). The ASI targeted a sales growth rate of between 3.5 percent and 4.0 percent year-on-year. This sales target had in fact already been revised down from 6 percent (y/y) due to weak cement sales amid uncertainties brought about by Indonesia’s ‘political year’ (legislative and presidential elections) as well as weak global commodity prices.

Read more ›

The year 2015 may be a good one for Indonesian cement makers. The Indonesian government under the leadership of Joko Widodo is eager to invest heavily in the country’s infrastructure as this is one of the main bottlenecks that blocks higher economic growth. In the Revised 2015 State Budget the central government set aside IDR 290.3 trillion (USD $22.3 billion) for infrastructure development. Surely, the country's large cement producers - Semen Indonesia, Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa, Holcim Indonesia and Semen Baturaja - will benefit from this.

Read more ›

Indonesian cement sales jumped 37.4 percent (year-on-year) to 4.7 million tons in August 2014 due to higher cement demand from Indonesian property and infrastructure developers. Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said that the development of smelters, power plants, apartments, hotels, and social housing has been key to improved cement sales last month. However, the 37.4 percentage point growth was also caused by fewer working days in August 2013 as the Lebaran holiday fell in that month.

Read more ›

Indonesian cement sales have slowed and may not achieve the target set for 2014. In the first half of 2014, the country’s domestic cement sales totaled 28.9 million tons, a 3.9 percentage point increase from the same period last year, well below the growth target of 6 percent (year-on-year, yoy). However, this development is no surprise as economic growth of Indonesia has slowed in recent years. Cement sales, a key indicator of construction activity (infrastructure and property development) are closely linked to general GDP growth.

Read more ›

Indonesian cement sales fell 0.4 percent (year-on-year) to 4.52 million tons in April 2014. The decline in cement sales was the result of the country’s legislative election that was held on 9 April 2014 as consumers bought few building materials during the campaign period. Head of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI) Widodo Santoso stated that a number of large infrastructure projects are currently being tendered and are thus unable to boost domestic cement sales yet.

Read more ›

Indonesia's cement sales in January 2014 declined 1 percent to 4.65 million metric tons from the same month in 2013 (4.68 million metric tons). The decline was caused by severe floods brought about by high rainfall amid a peak in Indonesia's rainy season. The floods resulted in disrupted distribution networks, therefore blocking cement shipments to retailers. Moreover, these weather conditions caused the postponement of several construction activities, thus reducing demand for cement.

Read more ›

According to the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), cement sales in Indonesia reached 41.6 million tons in the first three quarters of 2013, a 5.3 percent increase compared to domestic cement sales in the same period in 2012 (39.5 million tons), while Indonesia's cement exports jumped by 187 percent to 503 thousand tons. As such, total cement sales from January to September 2013 grew 6.2 percent to 42 million tons. Meanwhile, Semen Indonesia, Indonesia's largest cement producer, managed to expand its market share.

Read more ›

According to data from the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), domestic cement sales have fallen 5.8 percent to 3.3 million tons in August 2013 (from the same month last year). Being an important indicator of economic expansion (as cement sales inform about the development of property and infrastructure projects in the country), these lower cement sales confirm the slowing pace of economic growth in Indonesia. Compared to July 2013, cement sales in Indonesia fell by a massive 32 percent.

Read more ›

Cement sales in Indonesia grew by seven percent to 32.9 million tons in the period January to July 2013. This pace of growth is significantly lower compared to the double-digit cement growth rate last year and thus forms another sign of cooling economic growth in Southeast Asia's largest economy (cement sales are a good indicator to measure the state of economic growth of a country). A slowdown in domestic cement sales is likely to continue in the second half of 2013, partly due to a decline in infrastructure projects.

Read more ›

State-owned cement producer Semen Baturaja invites investors to its initial public offering (IPO) between 29 May and 7 June 2013 at the Ritz Carlton Pacific Place in Jakarta. Through this IPO, the company offers 2.34 billion shares (about 23.76 percent of its stock equity) to the public with an initial price target of IDR 500 - 685 per share (USD $0.05 - $0.07). Semen Baturaja will be listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) on 28 June 2013. The lead underwriters for this IPO are Bahana Securities, Danareksa Securities and Mandiri Securities.

Read more ›

Cement consumption in Indonesia increased 8.6 percent to 18.11 million tons in the first four months of 2013. Demand was particularly supported by property and housing projects in the bigger cities of Indonesia. Another pillar of support was found in the development of various infrastructure projects (including those within the framework of the government's ambitious MP3EI plan). The Indonesian Cement Association expects this year's cement consumption in Indonesia to rise to 61 million tons in total.

Read more ›