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Today's Headlines Cement Industry
Robustly rising exports of cement and clinker so far in 2018 are a glimmer of light on the horizon for Indonesian cement manufacturers. Domestic conditions in Indonesia's cement industry remain less rosy as a massive inflow of investment in cement production facilities in recent years has given rise to a major cement supply glut.
Indonesian cement manufacturers remain optimistic that domestic cement consumption in Indonesia will rise more markedly in the second half of the year. In the first half of the year national cement sales rose 3.48 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 30.0 million tons.
The wide gap between total national installed cement production capacity and total domestic cement demand will continue to put pressure on Indonesia's cement industry in the foreseeable future. While all local cement manufacturers together are now able to produce a total of 108 million tons of cement per year, domestic cement demand in Indonesia is only expected to reach 68-70 million tons in 2018. Hence, there exists a major oversupply of cement; an oversupply that puts pressure on cement companies' corporate earnings.
Cement sales in Indonesia rose 6.6 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 15.7 million tons in the first quarter of 2018. While the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI) initially expected cement consumption to be flat in March, consumption actually rose 3.4 percent (y/y) to 5.21 million tons in the third month of the year, hence pushing the overall Q1 figure to 15.7 million tons. A country's cement sales are a good indicator to measure its property and infrastructure development.
Domestic cement consumption in Indonesia rose 5.2 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 4.79 million tons in February 2018, supported by significantly rising cement demand on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesia Cement Association (ASI), said most provinces on Sumatra showed rising appetite for cement last month with the exception of West Sumatra and Bengkulu.
Indonesia's state-controlled cement manufacturer Semen Indonesia experienced a 8.8 percent year-on-year (y/y) increase in domestic cement sales to 2.77 million tons in October 2017. Meanwhile, the company's cement exports jumped a whopping 131.2 percent (y/y) in the same month. However, these exports (145,271 tons of cement in October 2017) come from a low base.
Cement consumption continued to improve in Indonesia in August 2017 on the back of rising demand from Java and the eastern region of Indonesia. Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said Indonesia's cement consumption rose 9 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 6.47 million tons in August 2017.
Over the past two years the cement oversupply in Indonesia has become increasingly excessive. Indonesia's total annual installed cement production capacity has now risen to 106.3 million tons, while domestic demand may not exceed 65 million tons in 2017. Moreover, production capacity will rise further this year as Semen Indonesia will open two new plants later this year.
Indonesia's largest cement producer Semen Indonesia, which controls about 41 percent of the domestic cement market, targets to have raised its annual installed cement production capacity to 37 million tons by September 2017. Johan Samudra, Director of Production and Business Strategy at Semen Indonesia, said the company's production capacity currently stands at 32-33 million tons.
Indonesian cement producers urge the government to protect the nation's existing cement manufacturers that have invested heavily in expanding production capacity in recent years but are plagued by the combination of weak domestic cement consumption and Indonesia's rising overall cement production capacity. Both factors are the reason behind the oversupply of cement in Southeast Asia's largest economy.
Latest Columns Cement Industry
The latest data from the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI) show that cement consumption in Indonesia declined 3.8 percent (year-on-year) to 22.9 million tons in the first five months of 2015 (from 23.8 million tons of cement in the same period last year). This fall is the steepest decline in Indonesian cement consumption since 2009 when demand plunged nearly seven percent (y/y) amid the impact of the global financial crisis. The current decline is caused by the country’s economic slowdown and falling commodity prices outside Java.
The year 2015 may be a good one for Indonesian cement makers. The Indonesian government under the leadership of Joko Widodo is eager to invest heavily in the country’s infrastructure as this is one of the main bottlenecks that blocks higher economic growth. In the Revised 2015 State Budget the central government set aside IDR 290.3 trillion (USD $22.3 billion) for infrastructure development. Surely, the country's large cement producers - Semen Indonesia, Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa, Holcim Indonesia and Semen Baturaja - will benefit from this.
Indonesian cement sales jumped 37.4 percent (year-on-year) to 4.7 million tons in August 2014 due to higher cement demand from Indonesian property and infrastructure developers. Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said that the development of smelters, power plants, apartments, hotels, and social housing has been key to improved cement sales last month. However, the 37.4 percentage point growth was also caused by fewer working days in August 2013 as the Lebaran holiday fell in that month.
Indonesian cement sales fell 0.4 percent (year-on-year) to 4.52 million tons in April 2014. The decline in cement sales was the result of the country’s legislative election that was held on 9 April 2014 as consumers bought few building materials during the campaign period. Head of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI) Widodo Santoso stated that a number of large infrastructure projects are currently being tendered and are thus unable to boost domestic cement sales yet.
Indonesia's cement sales in January 2014 declined 1 percent to 4.65 million metric tons from the same month in 2013 (4.68 million metric tons). The decline was caused by severe floods brought about by high rainfall amid a peak in Indonesia's rainy season. The floods resulted in disrupted distribution networks, therefore blocking cement shipments to retailers. Moreover, these weather conditions caused the postponement of several construction activities, thus reducing demand for cement.
According to the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), cement sales in Indonesia reached 41.6 million tons in the first three quarters of 2013, a 5.3 percent increase compared to domestic cement sales in the same period in 2012 (39.5 million tons), while Indonesia's cement exports jumped by 187 percent to 503 thousand tons. As such, total cement sales from January to September 2013 grew 6.2 percent to 42 million tons. Meanwhile, Semen Indonesia, Indonesia's largest cement producer, managed to expand its market share.
