Indonesia: Indonesia's domestic cement sales grew by 17% in 2011 on the back of new property construction, according to Indonesia's cement association (ASI). Total domestic cement sales in 2011 reached 48Mt, with more than half the sales in the main Java island, data from the association showed.
"Indonesia had large physical development during 2011 and the result followed strong economic growth figures. We also saw a huge decline in exports, which means domestic suppliers prioritised the domestic market," said ASI chairman Urip Trimuryono.
Total cement exports fell by 59% to 1.2Mt from 2.9Mt in 2010. The country's cement sales fluctuate month-to-month depending on factors such as holidays and the government's end-of-year project completion deadlines. Sales volumes in December 2011 rose by 17% from the same month in 2010 to 4.6Mt. The association has forecast cement sales growth by 6% in 2012.
"We believe the 2012 outlook for cement remains promising, supported by the land-clearing law and continued strong property demand on the back of a continued low interest rate environment," said Teguh Hartanto, an analyst at Jakarta-based Bahana Securities.
Indonesia's parliament stamped a long-awaited land acquisition bill in December 2011, an attempt to break the bottleneck in infrastructure development that has long been seen as holding back growth in the country.
