Domestic cement consumption in 2004 totaled 30.04Mt, up 9.1 per cent from the year earlier on the back of growth in demand from West Java and Jakarta, the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI) said. Cement exports in the same period, except for clinker exports, declined 4. 0 per cent to 2.95Mt from 3.07Mt a year earlier, ASI said in a report. Clinker exports grew 9.6 per cent to 4.68Mt from 4.27Mt. Cement consumption in the largest market, West Java, rose 18.5 per cent to 4. 94Mt; Jakarta’s consumption reached 3.51Mt, up 15.1 per cent; East Java 4.36Mt, up 7.6 per cent; and Central Java 3.51Mt, up 6.9 per cent. Analysts and industry officials predict that cement consumption will continue to grow this year, partly due to the reconstruction of tsunami-hit areas in the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra.
The government also plans to offer to investors 91 infrastructure projects worth more than US$22.5bn this year, with the first tender being slated for March. Indonesia’s three major cement producers -- PT Semen Gresik, PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa and PT Semen Cibinong, control a combined market share of over 90 per cent
