Indonesia: Indonesia's domestic cement sales were 12.5Mt in the first quarter of 2012, up 18.2% year-on-year compared to the same period in 2011, according to data from cement firm PT Semen Gresik. March 2012 sales were 4.4Mt, a rise of 16.2% year-on-year, the data showed, with most sales on the islands of Sumatra and Java.
"Indonesia's low cement consumption of around 199kg/capita in 2011 continues to provide ample room for growth," said Teguh Hartanto, analyst at Bahana Securities in Jakarta.
PT Indocement Tunggal Perkasa Tbk, Indonesia's biggest cement firm by market value, has estimated that national demand for cement will grow by 8-10% as infrastructure projects increase after a government law in December 2011 speeds up land acquisition. The country's cement sales fluctuate month to month depending on factors such as holidays and the government's end-of-year project completion deadlines.
