Indonesian monthly cement sales contract

Cement sales in Indonesia declined 0.4 per cent YoY in April to 4.52Mt, according to data from the Indonesia Cement Association (ASI).

Speaking to local press, Widodo Santoso, chairman of the ASI, said: “Demand for building material was low throughout the legislative campaigns, which is why cement sales were down last month.

Figures for the sales of cement have declined throughout the archipelago. Sales in Sumatra dropped by four per cent to 934,000t, Kalimantan saw an 8.7 percent decline in sales to 355,000t, while Sulawesi’s fell 3.4 per cent to 322,000t. Cement sales in Bali and the Nusa Tenggara islands fell the most, with a 13.8 percent decline to 230,000t.

Only Java and some eastern parts of the country experienced some improvement; Java saw sales rise 3.1 percent to 2.57Mt of cement.

On the outlook, Widodo remains confident that business would pick up by eight per cent to 62Mt nationwide this year. “We hope to see a better performance next month. Hopefully, the presidential elections won’t have any negative effects on cement sales, which have fallen across the country, with the exceptions of Java and Maluku and West Papua,” he said.