Indonesia’s largest cement producer, PT Semen Gresik (SG), said sales surged by 20 per cent in the first half of this year, driven primarily by soaring demand from government-sponsored projects in East Java.
SG corporate secretary Soebagyo said sales, excluding those from subsidiaries PT Semen Padang and PT Semen Tonasa, had soared to around 3.5Mt in the first half of this year from round 2.9Mt in the same period last year.
"Our sales have been boosted by massive government projects currently under construction in East Java," said Soebagyo, before attending a seminar held by the Indonesian Association of Listed Companies (AEI).
He said that the projects included the 5.4km Suramadu bridge, which would link Java with Madura island, the development of Juanda International Airport and the construction of Surabaya outer ring road.
For the Rp 2.83 trillion (US$350m) Suramadu project, which will be the longest bridge in Indonesia, the publicly listed cement firm was appointed by the developer as sole cement supplier to provide around 300,000 tons of cement over the next four years.
According to Soebagyo, the cement sold to the developer was priced at around Rp 400,000/t.
Soebagyo also said that SG’s local market share had increased to 23 per cent, from 21 percent at the end of last year.
With regard to a plan by Semen Padang to set up a new plant that will cost $345m , Soebagyo said that construction was likely to start after the runoff presidential election in September.
