Indonesian August sales dip

Indonesia's domestic cement sales fell 0.1 per cent in August from a year ago, data from PT Semen Gresik Tbk showed on Wednesday.

August sales were 3.6Mt, the lowest since September last year, down 25.2 per cent on a monthly basis, the data said.

The decline was because there were fewer working days during the Muslim Eid al-Fitr festival, Teguh Hartanto, a Jakarta-based analyst at Bahana Securities, said in a report.

"We believe that outlook for the cement industry remains solid with expected annual growth rate of between 9-12 per cent over the next five years, supported by strong GDP growth, low interest rate and implementation of the new land clearing bill," he said.

Cement consumption in the island Moluccas and Papua surged 69.1 per cent in August, compared to 51.1 per cent a month earlier, while the main islands Java and Sumatra led sales volumes, according to the data.