Semen Indonesia eyes Middle East & Africa investment

PT Semen Indonesia, the country’s leading producer, is looking at expanding its presence into the Middle East and Africa region by developing factories there in 2016, CEO Dwi Soetjipto as quoted by Investor Daily.

The Indonesian state-owned company company plans to invest IDR15trn (US$1.33bn) to boost production capacity to 50Mta by the year 2019.

Semen Indonesia is targeting output at 30Mta this year, up from last year's 28Mta. Aside from its domestic operations in Indonesia, which comprise the Semen Gresik, Semen Padang and Semen Tonasa subsidiaries, the company also owns a majority stake in Thang Long Cement in Vietnam.

Regional expansion also remains very much on the cards, with Semen Indonesia having set aside more than US$200m to acquire a cement factory in Myanmar this year, seeking to take advantage of that country’s growing demands for infrastructure projects. Last month it signed a memorandum of understanding with a strategic partner, according to local press reports. Semen Indonesia aims to become the majority stakeholder and the acquisition is expected to be complete this month, Dwi told the Jakarta Post. The company has also said it is looking to invest in Bangladesh next year.