Semen Indonesia: unsuccessful Holcim (Lanka) bid will not deter from ASEAN expansion

PT Semen Indonesia (Persero) Tbk's director, Rizkan Chandra, has claimed that Siam City's bid for Holcim (Lanka) Ltd was "an outrageous price".

Siam City Cement won 99 per cent of the Holcim Lanka shares for US$400m. "We lost the tender in Sri Lanka because Siam City Cement bid an outrageous price," said Mr Chandra to CNN Indonesia.

"The price Siam City paid was an anomaly. The lowest price by one of the seven other bidders was US$240m," he explained.

The director disclosed that PT Semen Indonesia however would persist in its pursuit of expansion in the ASEAN region despite losing out to the tender acquisition of shares of Holcim (Lanka) Ltd in Sri Lanka at the end of July.

He emphasised that the company will not curtail its ASEAN regional expansion programme, despite Indonesia's supply glut following falling domestic demand. The cement producer plans to establish a new factory in the ASEAN region, targeting production of up to 100Mt by 2030.

"Essentially we're looking for places that do not have clinker or cement that can be sent from Indonesia," Mr Rizkan explained.