Displaying items by tag: Cemindo Gemilang

The Indonesian Cement Association (ASI) has warned that cuts to the Nusantara Capital City project had reduced cement sales so far in 2025. Yet also this week the ASEAN Federation of Cement Manufacturers (AFCM) launched its 2035 AFCM Decarbonisation Roadmap. Here is a round-up of recent news from the cement sector in Indonesia.

ASI data shows that local cement sales volumes fell by 2.5% year-on-year to 51.9Mt in the first 10 months of 2025 from 53.2Mt in the same period in 2024. Cement production decreased by 5.6% to 52.9Mt. Lower demand was reported in Kalimantan and Java. However, it rose in Sumatra and Nusa, in part, due to road construction. Sadly, Sumatra has been badly affected by floods this week. National cement exports grew by over 20% to 1.1Mt. The ASI is currently hopeful that a government-backed home renovation programme might stimulate demand.

Graph 1: Domestic cement sales and exports in Indonesia, 2019 - 2025. Source: Indonesian Cement Association (ASI). Note: Figure estimated for 2025, exports include cement and clinker.

The general picture can be seen above in Graph 1. The local cement sector has generally had a capacity utilisation issue since the mid-2010s. Domestic sales started to catch up but the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the market. Meanwhile, exports of cement and clinker have been steadily rising since 2014. These are dominated by clinker exports, with the single largest destination being Bangladesh. Other major targets include Taiwan and Australia. The country’s relatively low consumption of cement per capita suggests that the utilisation rate will grow over time.

The local production market is dominated by state-owned Semen Indonesia (SIG) (with a 48.5% share), followed by Indocement (29.1%), Conch Cement Indonesia (7.1%) and Cemindo Gemilang (6.6%). SIG’s sales volumes in the first nine months of 2025 roughly follow the general trend reported by the ASI with local sales down by 1.8% year-on-year to 27.5Mt and exports up by 25.3% to 5.1Mt. The group’s sales revenue and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 3.8% to US$1.52bn and 23.8% to US$198m respectively. Indocement’s revenue fell by a similar rate. Both companies anticipate a modest recovery in 2026.

Something to note from SIG’s financial results and related discussions in 2025 (and earlier) has been its approach to marketing and selling its cement brands in a highly competitive environment. It says it changes its brand mix in different regional locations with varying combinations of market leaders with premium pricing and so-called ‘fighting brands’ with competitive pricing. Yet, eco-brands received a mention in addition to the other two groups in the third quarter report analysts’ discussions suggesting an appetite for potentially lower-clinker cements in a developing market such as Indonesia.

This leads to the second Indonesia-related news story of the week: the 2035 AFCM Decarbonisation Roadmap. The plan intends to reduce net CO₂ emissions from the cement sector in the region by 16% to 190Mt/yr from 228Mt/yr in 2020. 58% of this reduction will be achieved through the use of alternative fuels, 33% via the use of low-carbon cements and 9% through the use of renewable energy sources. Work towards carbon capture, utilisation and/or storage (CCUS) is starting with the aim of supporting capture pilots in the region and planning towards CO₂ transport and storage networks. Similarly, the roadmap urges producers to identify and prepare to use new secondary cementitious materials such as calcined clay and construction and demolition waste.

The race between capacity building and market share has been a familiar one in coverage of the cement market in Indonesia in recent decades. Provided the main companies can endure the competition, it looks set to continue, while demographic trends indicate the need for continued investment. Otherwise more market consolidation is to be expected when the utilisation rate dips too low. What is new though are the higher levels of blended cements and the changes this brings to the market. This can be seen above in the marketing strategy of SIG and the regional decarbonisation strategy. Similar trends are happening everywhere but the effects on a highly competitive market could be pronounced. Particularly if those government-backed schemes that the sector anticipates promote it.

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Indonesia: China-based Sinoma International Engineering has completed the installation of a 10,000t/day integrated cement production line complete with raw material processing and clinker storage capacity at Gama Group subsidiary PT Cemindo Gemilang’s integrated Bayah II plant. China Daily News has reported that the Sinoma International Engineering Team worked overtime in order to complete the commission ahead of its scheduled date in May 2020. Project manager Wang Xiaojun said, “The COVID-19 outbreak had a severe impact on on-site construction.”