PT Siam Cement Group will seek growth in packaging sector

Thai owned PT Siam Cement Group (SCG) Indonesia plans to acquire more packaging companies in Indonesia to achieve higher growth amid tighter competition in the cement industry.

PT SCG Indonesia business support director Vikorn Phongsatorn said his company would target local companies.

"We will target some particular companies but it is hard to say how many because merger and acquisition opportunities come and go," Vikorn said in Jakarta.

PT SCG Indonesia has three main businesses, cement and building material, chemical and packaging.
Packaging companies contributed five per cent of the US$425m revenue in 2016, cement and building material contributed 80 per cent and chemical contributed 15 per cent.

Vikorn said his company wanted to grow the packaging business as it had the potential to grow by five to 10 per cent annually, while growth in the cement business was slower than expected because of tough competition.

Meanwhile, "the cement business is challenging despite massive infrastructure projects because foreign companies from Europe, China and elsewhere are entering the Indonesian market," Vikorn said.