Indonesia will need additional cement capacity by 2008 when demand is predicted to begin to exceed supplying capacity of existing plants. Construction of new cement factories, therefore, needs to start in 2006 as it will take about two years to build a cement factory, President of state-owned cement company PT Semen Gresik Dwi Sutjipto said.
Based on data at the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), demand for cement from domestic and export markets have continued to increase. In 2003, cement consumption in the country totaled 27.54Mt and exports totalled 7.34Mt against 30.04Mt and 7.63Mt respectively in 2004. In the first 10 months of 2005, cement consumption in the country totalled 26.8Mt with exports totalling 5.53Mt.
