Semen Indonesia to expand to 72.9Mta by 2030

PT Semen Indonesia said that it intends to expand its production capacity to 72.9Mta by 2030. As a result, output potential would more than double its present capacity of 31.8Mta, according to Dwi Soetjipto, Semen Indonesia's president director.

The higher capacity would be achieved through building more plants or acquire the works of other cement producers, he added. "In 2014, the company has carried out strategic preparations for further expansion. The process of groundbreaking has been completed to mark the start of work to build Indarung VI and Rembang I factories," he said. "What we have now is the result of what we invested in the past years, and what the company would have in the next 4-5 years is the result of what we invest now," he said.

The cement producer aims to control at least 10 per cent of the cement market in the ASEAN region, more than double its current four per cent share from the products of Thang Long Cement in Vietnam. Thang Long was acquired by PT Semen Indonesia in late-2012 as a way to enter the regional market. Semen Indonesia's capacity utilisation in Vietnam has reached 100 per cent and plans are afoot to increase production capacity by 1.5-2.5Mta. 

"In our first acquisition, the production utility was 60 per cent of the total capacity of around 2.3Mta, but now it has reached 100 percent so we need additional investment to increase the production capacity," Dwi Soetjipto said.

Moreover, the company intends to invest in a cement plant in Myanmar. "We hope to start investing next year, and then to step forward to other regions of Asia, such as Bangladesh for the southern area of Asia," he added.

The Semen Indonesia president director also officially opened the new headquarters of the company in Sumberarum, Tuban, East Java.