Slowing property and infrastructure development in southeast Asia?s largest economy caused a drop in cement sales from January to July 2015. Domestic cement sales fell 4.1 per cent to 31.3 mt from the same period last year, according to Indonesia Investments.
Apart from the stuttering economy, the month of July also saw the Idul Fitri celebrations when business traditionally comes to a near-standstill. In the country?s largest cement markets, Java and Sumatra, cement consumption fell 13.9 and 3.3 per cent, respectively.
Meanwhile, based on data from the Indonesian cement association, ASI, the regions of Bali-Nusa Tenggara and Kalimantan experienced steep declines in cement consumption by 26.5 and 23.6 per cent, respectively, in July 2015.
Widodo Santoso, chairman of ASI, remains optimistic as government-led infrastructure projects are slowly taking off. He expects cement sales and consumption to rise in the second half of the year and targets a five per cent sales growth in each month up to the year-end.