Semen Indonesia: upbeat on 2014 outlook

PT Semen Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, the holding company for domestic producers Semen Gresik, Semen Padang and Semen Tonasa and Vietnam-based Thang Long Cement, is upbeat on its outlook for 2014 following a positive performance last year.

Total group sales, including exports to the end of November reached 23.41Mt, up 14.6 per cent YoY, the company said in a statement. Exports amounted to 317,560t during the period, a staggering 335.3 per cent YoY increase on the 72,950t traded the year before. Cement sales to the end of December are estimated to have reached 27.95Mt, of which Semen Gresik sold 13.64Mt, Semen Padang 7.27Mt, Semen Tonasa 6.33Mt and Thang Long Cement 2.29Mt.

Dwi Soetjipto, President Director of Semen Indonesia, rated that special port and packing plants spread across Indonesia have helped improve the company's efficiency in terms of transportation and distribution costs.

For 2014, Indonesia's leading cement producer is confident that the national market can achieve sales growth of six per cent and is optimistic that it can achieve sales of 31Mt.