PT Semen Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, the country’s largest cement producer, displayed an encouraging performance in 2013, with a market share of 43.8%.
Cement sales up to November 2013 (including sales in the domestic market and exports) increased by 14.6% y/y to 23.41 million t from 20.43 million t in 2012. Sales from exports saw a huge increase of 335.3% from 72 950 t in 2012 to 317 560 t in 2013. Sales up to December 2013 are estimated at approximately 27.95 million t.
Outlook for 2014
The company has predicted that sales will increase by some 11% in 2014 due to strong domestic market demand and efficient distribution networks, potentially reaching 31 million t.
Cement sales in the domestic market are expected to remain strong, with a predicted growth of 6% in 2014. However, this is a slight drop from the 8% growth rate estimated for 2013 by the Indonesia Cement Association. Cement consumption increased by 6.5% y/y to 5.56 million t in November 2013 but decreased slightly m/m from a 7.9% increase in October 2013 due to a lull in orders from islands outside Java.
Company projects
Semen Indonesia will continue to expand its market reach in 2014. In addition to 21 packing plants, the company owns 11 sea ports that are customised to ensure efficient cement loading and unloading across the country. A new 600 000 tpa packing plant in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, will be inaugurated on 9 January 2014.
"The packing plant in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, further strengthens the company's business expansion. It is part of the company strategy in order to get closer to consumers,” said the President Director of Semen Indonesia, Dwi Sotjipto. “The packing plants and special ports are very helpful in boosting efficiency in term of transport cost and distribution.”
The new plant has a one piece silo with a capacity of 600 000 tpa, two line cement bags fitted with a rotary packer capacity of 2200 bags/hour and one line output with a capacity of 120 tph. Investment in the project totalled Rp120 billion.
Sutjipto further stated that the company aims to maintain its market share with the introduction of new types of cement and improving its existing packing plants with new technology. The company is planning to produce slag powder for use in specialised cements in partnership with state-owned steelmaker Krakatau Steel. The new company, Krakatau Semen Indonesia, will require a total investment of US$36 million and is to build a facility in Cilegon Banten that will process 750 000 tpa of granulated blastfurnace slag. Construction is due to commence in early 2014 and is predicted to be operational by early 2016.
Adapted from press release by Rosalie Starling