Indonesia: Domestic cement sales in Indonesia, the largest economy in south east Asia, rose by 26% in November 2011 from the same month in 2010, according to data released by the Indonesian cement association (ASI).
Sales volume reached 4.4Mt, compared to 3.5Mt in November 2010. Despite this, sales were down by 4.7% compared to October 2011, which saw 4.7Mt of cement sold. It should be noted that end of year deadlines for completion of government construction projects traditionally inflate November figures compared to those for December.
The ASI estimates that total domestic sales will reach around 45-46Mt in 2011, up by 15% from 2010, according to its chairman Urip Trimuryono.
In the longer term it is likely that cement demand growth will be more rapid in the country, with Indonesia's parliament stamping a long-awaited land acquisition bill on 16 December 2011. The bill will attempt to remove a bottleneck in infrastructure development that has long been seen as holding back growth in the country, providing a greater demand for cement.