Indonesia’s Semen Gresik, Indocement mull raising cement prices

The country’s two largest cement makers, PT Semen Gresik and PT Indocement, are considering raising cement prices in view of a pick-up in demand in September, the Investor Daily reported.

The newspaper quoted Semen Gresik president Dwi Soetjipto as saying: "We believe the cement demand increase in September will be sustained through the year-end. Therefore we will adjust prices."

It quoted Indocement’s head of investor relations, Sunu Widyatmoko, as saying Indocement would follow its competitors if they started to raise prices.

However, neither official gave any clues about the size of any price increase.

Earlier this year, the two companies cut prices in response to weak demand.

A report from the Indonesian Cement Association shows that in September domestic consumption of cement rose for a fifth straight month to 3.2Mt from 3.12Mt a year before. However, domestic cement consumption during the nine months to September was 2.1 per cent lower than a year before at 23.6Mt.