Cemex has declined to comment on a report that it is offering to sell its 25.53 per cent stake in Indonesia’s largest cement maker PT Semen Gresik for US$500m. "Our policy is not to comment on it. Any comment should come from the government," Cemex Indonesia president Francisco Noriega told XFN-Asia.

Bisnis Indonesia earlier quoted Industry Minister Fahmi Idris as saying Cemex has made such an offer but that the government is still considering whether to buy back the stake. "If we use the state budget for that then the action cannot be done this year," the minister was quoted as saying.

Idris said the government may ask Semen Gresik to sell bonds to fund such a buyback. Another option is to form a consortium in which private parties will own a minority stake, the report said.