Growth of cement sales in Indonesia is estimated to have slowed in 2014 amid uncertainties brought about by the ‘political year’ (referring to the fragmented results of the country’s legislative and presidential elections and which led to the postponement of various infrastructure projects and other investments in Indonesia). Other factors that impacted negatively on cement sales this year were the central bank’s higher interest rate policy, low commodity prices and weakening purchasing power.

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Cement sales in Indonesia are expected to rise as the new Indonesian government aims to ramp up infrastructure development while - in the long term - Indonesian banks will lower interest rates. Lower interest rates give rise to enhanced property development in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The country’s three leading cement producers are expected to benefit significantly from these developments. These companies are Semen Indonesia, Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa, and Holcim Indonesia.

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Cement sales in Indonesia surged 21 percent month-to-month (m/m) to 5.6 million ton in September 2014 from 4.6 million ton in the preceding month. Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said that the increase in Indonesian cement sales was supported by the start of a number of central and regional government infrastructure projects. Santoso also detected an increase in development of property projects. Infrastructure and property are the sectors that absorb most cement.

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Indonesian cement sales fell 25 percent to 3.7 million tons in July 2014 from 5 million tons in the same month last year. This sharp decline is attributed to the Lebaran holiday (also known as Idul Fitri in which Muslims celebrate the end of the fasting month) when businesses are closed as well as Indonesia’s July 2014 presidential election. Slowing cement sales are also caused by declining economic growth (5.12 percent yoy in Q2-2014). Cement sales are a key indicator for construction activity (infrastructure and property development).

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On 16 February 2014, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website in the last seven days. Most of the topics involve economic matters such as Bank Indonesia's benchmark interest rate, the rupiah exchange rate, tourism, trade balance, the eruption of Mount Kelud, cement sales, an update on the MP3EI, and more.

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After experiencing slowing growth in recent months, Indonesian cement sales in October 2013 increased 7.9 percent (year-on-year) to 5.58 million metric tons according to data from the Indonesia Cement Association (ASI). As such, cement sales rebounded from the 5.3 percent growth (yoy) in the previous month. The October growth rate was mainly caused by increased cement demand from islands other than Java. In particular, demand from Sumatra rose significantly. Indonesia's second most populous island bought 1.15 million tons of cement.

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Although the combined performance of the four listed Indonesian cement companies in the first six months of 2013 is good with net profit rising 13.7 percent from the same period in 2012, the individual companies posted mixed results. Net profit of Semen Indonesia, Indonesia's largest cement producer, rose 22.9 percent, while net profit of Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa, the country's second-largest cement producer, rose 11.8 percent. The other two cement producers, Holcim Indonesia and Semen Baturaja, posted a decline in net profit.

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Holcim Indonesia, the third largest cement producer in Indonesia, is a cement-based building materials and services provider with operations in two countries, Indonesia and Malaysia. The company currently holds a market share of around 15 to 16 percent in Indonesia in terms of cement production. Holcim and its subsidiaries have a combined cement production capacity of 9.1 million tons in Indonesia. The company, part of the Swiss-based Holcim Group, aims to expand production capacity with its two new Tuban plants.

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Semen Indonesia, formerly known as Semen Gresik, is Indonesia's largest cement producer. The company, which is one of the few Indonesian companies that has spread its wings abroad for business expansion, forms the holding company of three large cement producers: Semen Gresik (East Java), Semen Padang (West Sumatra) and Semen Tonasa (South Sulawesi). Although the company lost a couple of percentage points in terms of market share, it still dominates Indonesia's lucrative cement industry.

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Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa (Indocement), Indonesia's second largest cement producer in terms of market share, has 12 cement plants that are spread across West Java and South Kalimantan. Its Citeureup factory in Bogor (West Java) is currently one of the largest cement factories in the world with an annual installed production capacity of 11.9 million tons of cement. As Indonesia's cement industry has been growing rapidly, along with the country's economic growth, Indocement is busy expanding its operations.

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Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa (INTP), Indonesia's second-largest cement producer, is planning to invest between US $260 and $320 for the establishment of three new cement factories. One of these factories - with a production capacity of 4.4 million ton per year - will be built on brownfield land (in Citeureup, West Java), while the other two will be built on greenfield land and will have a combined production capacity of about five million ton annually.

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