Indonesia’s July sales rise 9.9 per cent

Indonesia's domestic cement sales rose 9.9 per cent in July from a year ago, up from 9.5 per cent in June, data from the country's biggest cement firm PT Semen Gresik Tbk showed on Monday.    

Southeast Asia's biggest economy consumed more than 4.8Mt of cement in July, up 7.2 per cent on a monthly basis. The Moluccas islands and Papua led July growth at 51.1 per cent, while main islands Java and Sumatra led sales volumes.    

July cement sales volume was boosted by additional supply from PT Semen Gresik Tbk, which had the highest monthly sales ever due to its new facility in Tuban, East Java while of the other cement producers sales volume were largely unchanged, according to Macquarie Equities Research house.

"We expect low volume sales in August due to the Muslim holiday season, but we think the September number should bounce back," Macquarie analyst Felicia Barus said in a note on Monday.

The research house has kept its 'overweight' rating on Indonesian cement and property sectors, citing higher cement sales volume and utilisation, while it expects the property sector to benefit from the presidential regulation on land acquisition.

Barus also said the regulation, signed on Aug. 7 by the Indonesian president, to implement the land acquisition bill will accelerate infrastructure development and improve property demand and pricing outlook.