Indonesia 1Q14 sales growth slows

Indonesian cement consumption slowed during the first quarter of this year despite a strong rebound in March sales, latest data by the Indonesia Cement Association (ASI) shows.

For the first three months of the year, demand rose by 3.7 per cent YoY to 14.08Mt compared to 13.58Mt in the comparative period of 2013. However, annual growth in the 1Q13 was much higher at 8.6 per cent.

According to the data, consumption during the Jan-March 2014 period fell in almost all regions. Consumption dropped in Banten by 11.7 per cent, Central Java by 2.3 per cent and Maluku and Papua by 9.4 per cent.

Widod Santoso, chairman of the ASI, said the weaker trends seen this year were partly due to adverse weather conditions including floods in the first two months. This weather effect led to demand dropping by 0.2 per cent in January and increasing by only 2.9 per cent in February.

March rebound
However, during March 2014 demand rose by 8.5 per cent to 4.91Mt. The strongest growth of 22.2 per cent was seen in Maluku and Papua as well as in the Nusa Tenggara area with 22 per cent. Consumption in Jakarta also rose by a significant 17 per cent in March to touch 505,851t. Consumption in the capital city declined the two previous consecutive months of January and February.

Widodo said that he was optimistic that the March trend would continue for the next nine months and 5-6 per cent growth in consumption would be possible by the year end, taking demand to around 61Mt. “Following the conducive legislative election, we hope that government and private sectors’ projects can be realised soon,” he told the Jakarta Post.