Indonesia's cement sales rose 6.2 percent (y/y) to 5.1 million tons in May 2016, the highest monthly figure so far in 2016. As the property sector of Indonesia remains subdued amid sluggish demand and development, growth in cement sales is regarded to be the result of infrastructure development. Data from the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI) show that Indonesia's cement sales total 24.1 million tons in the first five months of 2016, up 3.9 percent (y/y) from sales in the same period one year earlier.

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Cement sales in Indonesia in the first four months of 2016 reached 19.3 million tons, up 4.2 percent (y/y) from the January-April period one year earlier, supported by additional cement supplies by three newcomers in Indonesia's cement industry and higher cement demand. The three newcomers supplied 600,000 tons of cement in the first four months. Trimegah Securities noted that without these additional supplies, Indonesia's cement sales in January-April 2016 would only have increased 0.7 percent (y/y).

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The cement manufacturers in Indonesia are in need of participating in a cement price war in order to gain market share in Southeast Asia's largest economy. According to analysts a price war cannot be avoided due to the influx of new players in Indonesia's cement industry. This influx causes rising cement production capacity in Indonesia, while domestic cement demand remains sluggish. The new and smaller cement players offer low prices to gain market share. The bigger and long-term established cement companies may need to join in this price war in order to defend their market share.

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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).

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On 21 February 2016, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website over the last seven days. Most of the topics involve economic matters such as new rules regarding banks' net interest margin, an update on Indonesia's trade balance, interest rates, the 2016 State Budget, the coal industry, the cement industry, and more.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Sales of Semen Indonesia, Indonesia's leading cement producer, are expected to remain stagnant in 2015 despite recently rising cement demand due to the kick off of various government-led infrastructure projects. In the January-October 2015 period, the company's cement sales fell 2 percent compared to sales in the same period last year. On a positive note, Semen Indonesia's cement sales in October surged 10 percent to 2.7 million tons compared to the same month one year earlier. But with two months remaining it is not expected that the company's sales will significantly rise from last year's sales (26.6 million tons).

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It has been a while since we last published an article on Indonesia’s cement industry. Therefore, it is interesting to present an update. Indonesia’s cement industry was a truly booming industry in the early 2010s as domestic cement demand was strong around that time on the back of the construction of property and infrastructure.

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Despite the challenging conditions, Indonesian cement producer Cemindo Gemilang decided to offer 2.71 billion shares, equivalent to 15.0 percent of the company’s total shares, to the public through an initial public offering (IPO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). With the IPO price set at the range of 600-800 per share, the cement producer eyes to collect around IDR 1.89 trillion (approx. USD $133 million) through this corporate move.

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Between the years 2011 and 2013 Indonesia’s cement industry seemed to be a goldmine. Double-digit growth in annual domestic cement sales – supported by strong growth in the country’s property sector, particularly on the islands of Java and Sumatra – attracted new foreign investment in cement production facilities, while established cement producers in the Archipelago invested in expansion of their cement production facilities.

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Semen Indonesia, the largest cement producer in Indonesia, announced in November 2018 that it has signed a conditional sales & purchase agreement with LafargeHolcim Ltd to acquire an 80.6 percent stake in Holcim Indonesia, the third-biggest cement producer in Indonesia.

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Cement sales were good in January 2018 for Indonesian cement manufacturers, growth that is attributed to rising cement demand on the back of the government-led infrastructure development program, particularly the construction of toll roads. Indonesia's cement consumption rose 9.9 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 5.68 million tons in January 2018.

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Over the past five years Indonesia's annual cement production capacity surged to above 100 million tons, while domestic cement consumption has difficulty to reach beyond 65 million tons (and Indonesia exports relatively few cement). The subsequent oversupply condition puts significant pressure on cement prices. So, what are the strategies of Indonesian cement producers in 2018?

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Cement consumption in Indonesia grew 5.7 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 41.1 million tons in the January-August 2017 period (compared to the same period one year earlier). This can be labelled a rebound compared to bleak growth of 1.8 percent (y/y) and 1.6 percent (y/y) in 2015 and 2016, respectively. This year Indonesian cement demand could in fact reach 64 million tons.

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While domestic cement demand remains bleak, Indonesia's cement producers managed to raise their level of production capacity utilization due to a surge in exports. However, export growth will only slightly improve the structural oversupply situation in Indonesia's cement market. With installed annual production capacity estimated at 103.8 million tons of cement, nearly 40 million tons of capacity remains unused.

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Although the Indonesian government has been eager to improve the nation's investment climate in a bid to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) and thus boost economic growth of Indonesia, it is widely known that conditions in Indonesia's investment climate remain somewhat troublesome, reflected by the nation's mediocre ranking in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business index 2017. Here it ranks 91 out of 190 countries across the globe.

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For Indonesian cement producers it is vital to maintain their market share amid ongoing difficult times. With Indonesia's total installed annual cement production capacity now being around 100 million tons, while domestic demand is only expected to reach 65 million in 2017, cement players are facing weak prices amid a big oversupply, while foreign demand for Indonesian cement is yet to grow. Meanwhile, due to the arrival of various new cement players in Indonesia in recent years, competition for market share has become increasingly fierce.

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