Indocement eyes 4-5% 2007 sales rise, Indonesia

Indocement eyes 4-5% 2007 sales rise, Indonesia
19 October 2006


Indonesia’s second-largest cement maker, PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa Tbk, is aiming for between 4-5 per cent growth in its sales next year, in line with the overall industry, a senior company executive said. 
 
Chief Financial Officer Christian Kartawijaya said Indocement had managed to increase its domestic market share to 32 per cent currently from around 23-29 per cent in May, thanks to a better pricing strategy of its key product. 
 
"The outlook (for the industry) will largely depend on gross domestic product. If the economy expanded by five per cent, industry sales can grow by 4 per cent while if it expanded by six per cent the whole industry can have 5 per cent growth," Kartawijaya told reporters late on Wednesday. 
 
"Our (growth next year) will be in line with the national growth, around 4 to 5 percent," he added. 
 
Kartawijaya also said that the company posted higher sales volume of 9.9Mt in the first nine months of the year, compared to 9.2Mt a year ago, thanks to higher exports, which increased by 37 per cent, and despite largely flat domestic sales. 
 
Indocement has no plan to increase production capacity despite the prospect of higher demand from government infrastructure projects next year, as the national production capacity was currently well above the average demand for the building material.
 
"What we will do when there’s a jump in domestic demand is divert our exports to the local market and improve the efficiency of our machinery," he added.
Published under Cement News