Indonesia February cement sales advance

Indonesian cement sales rose 2.7 per cent last month to 4.4Mt from a year earlier, state-owned Semen Indonesia announced, citing data from Indonesia Cement Association (ASI).

Cement sales during February 2014 in the main market of Java rose four per cent to 2.5Mt from the same period last year, despite the eruption of Mount Kelud in East Java on 13 February which disrupted flights and economic activities in the surrounding areas.  Shipments in East and West Java rose just over 12 per cent, while sales in Yogyakarta rose 0.1 per cent. Sales declined in Jakarta (1.8 per cent), Banten (11.6 per cent).

Sales in Sumatra, Indonesia’s second largest domestic market, rose 6.4 per cent while in Kalimantan and Sulawesi they were up by 2.2 and 4.9 per cent, respectively. Reductions were seen in Nusa Tenggara (3.5 per cent) and Maluku and Irian Jaya (29.7 per cent)

Cement exports tumbled 34.7 per cent in February to 11,200t.

The February result is an improvement on the 0.3 per cent decline noted in January as sales were affected by heavy rains which impacted construction activity and distribution networks.

Sales for the first two months of 2014 reached 9,068,647t, up 1.2 per cent compared to 9,177,227t in the same period of last year.