Indonesian cement market grows to 5.2Mt in March

Cement sales in Indonesia increased by 3.5 per cent YoY to 5,204,852t in March 2018 when compared with 5,027,799t recorded in the year-ago period, according to figures by the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI). In February off-take in the domestic market advanced by 5.9 per cent YoY from 4,554,653t to 4,821,262t.

In terms of exports, cement exports in March fell by 36.6 per cent YoY to 70,512t, but clinker exports nearly quadrupled from 55,201t in March 2017 to 218,333t one year later. This follows a 13.6 per cent decrease of cement exports to 68,228t in February. Clinker exports surged from 6201t in February 2017 to 105,522t in February 2017.

In the first quarter of 2018, domestic cement consumption rose by 6.6 per cent from 14.755Mt to 15.722Mt. Java, the country’s largest market saw sales increase by 6.1 per cent to 8.787Mt YoY while Sumatra reported a rise of 11.7 per cent to 3.434Mt. Sulawesi saw demand increase by 5.9 per cent to 1.271Mt and Kalimantan, the country’s fourth-largest producer, reported an advance of 11.5 per cent to 1.029Mt. The Maluku and Irian Jaya market remained stable at 0.408Mt, but Nusa Tenggara noted a 9.2 per cent fall in sales to 0.793Mt in the 1Q18.

In addition, Indonesia’s cement manufacturers exported 209,069t, down 16.1 per cent when compared with the equivalent period in 2017. Clinker exports advanced from 141,457t to 492,562t over the same period.