Indonesian cement sales have begun the year on a positive note, rising by 4.4 per cent YoY in January to 5.14Mt on the back of high demand from infrastructure projects across the country

"This shows that the government is able to start construction of housing and infrastructure early in the year. In addition, construction of power plants, smelters and other projects helped boost sales of cement," the Jakarta Globe quoted Widodo Santoso, chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association, as saying.

The report added that Indonesia Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said earlier this week that the government had spent IDR1.5 trillion (US$112m) in the first month of this year on infrastructure construction, 15 times the amount spent in the same period a year ago,