Foreign, Indonesian investors eye stake in cement maker

A number of foreign and local investors have indicated interest in buying out the 25.5 per cent stake of Cemex Asia in state-owned cement maker PT Semen Gresik, the government said.

State Minister for state enterprises Laksamana Sukardi said the investors had expressed interest although none has formally submitted a proposal.

Laksamana told legislators in a meeting cement shares are in strong demand as the construction industry is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, pushing up demand for cement.  He said if none of the investors is serious in buying the stake, the government hopes to use pension funds to buy it.

Cemex and the government has been in dispute over the government failure to meet its earlier commitment to sell the majority stake of Semen Gresik to the Mexican cement giant.  The failure was caused by the rejection of Semen Padang and Semen Tonasa, both subsidiaries of Semen Gresik, to be sold to foreign investors.