Semen Indonesia Rembang plant ready for 1H17 start

Semen Indonesia has said it will commence production from its cement plant in Rembang, Central Java, in the first half of 2017.

Company president director, Rizkan Chandra, said the cement producer respects the results of a meeting held at the Presidential Staff Office in Jakarta last week.

“In view of the results of the meeting, as the remaining issue was [to address] Watuputih CAT [groundwater basin], Semen Indonesia will begin production in Rembang. We expect to start commercial operations in the first semester,” according to a written statement dated 13 April 2017.

On the Strategic Environmental Study (KLHS) team report, Semen Indonesia says it supports scientific studies, including on physiographic regions in the zones of Kendeng, Randublatung and Rembang.

To date, the Rembang cement plant has obtained around 35 permits and it always complies with the prevailing rules and regulations and is ready to start operations, he said.

At the meeting, it was explained that the Rembang cement plant will proceed with operations using the available raw materials until a decision on mining activities is issued. He said that he needs to clarify, among others, that Rembang cement plant is situated in Rembang zone, not in Kendeng zone.

Overcoming supply limitations
Separately, Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesia Cement Association, recently told Bisnis Indonesia that the Rembang plant will overcome the limitations to supply cement in the Central Java and Yogyakarta markets.

“Currently there are only two cement factories in Central Java: Holcim Indonesia and PT Semen Bima. The presence of plant with capacity of 3Mt in Rembang has the potential to lower  the cement price in Central Java and will reduce cement transport flows from East Java and West Java to Central Java and Yogyakarta”, Widodo said.

His comments follow the release of recent ASI data showing that cement consumption in Indonesia had risen in March 2017 after posting flat performances in the first two months of the year. The increase is attributed to heightened demand on Central and East Java.