Indonesia’s domestic cement sales grew 6.3 per cent to 2.4Mt in May from a year earlier, the country’s largest cement maker PT Semen Gresik announced.
The monthly cement sales figures are closely watched by financial markets as an indicator of building activity and therefore domestic demand. Gresik itself sold a total of 1.3Mt of cement last month, including exports, up 10.1 per cent from May 2003, the company said.
Some analysts have forecast domestic cement sales would rise eight per cent this year helped by property projects and other spending linked to the country’s long election process.
Domestic cement sales volume grew only one percent to 27.5Mt in 2003, hurt by rises in fuel and utility prices. Volume rose 8.9 per cent to 11.2Mt in the first five months of this year from the same period last year.
