Displaying items by tag: Semen Indonesia
Protest against Semen Indonesia Rembang cement plant
17 April 2015Indonesia: Former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioner Bambang Widjojanto joined a protest on 16 April 2015 against the construction of Semen Indonesia's new cement plant in Rembang, Central Java. However, the Semarang State Administrative Court (PTUN) ruled on the same day that PT Semen Indonesia could operate in the area.
Bambang said that the construction and operation of the cement plant could pose a threat to the ecosystem in the region. The former KPK commissioner joined the rally in front of the PTUN, which is currently holding a trial on the legality of the local government's decision to allow PT Semen Indonesia to start mining activities in the area. "We hope that the judges listen to their consciences and side with the people," said Bambang.
Residents of Rembang, Central Java, have staged a series of rallies since 2014, protesting the plan to build a cement plant in Watu Putih. They claim that a plant would impact nearby water resources and directly degrade their livelihoods. The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), an environmental non-government organisation (NGO) that has assisted the locals, has estimated that the potential loss of water could reach 51ML.
Semen Indonesia considers new West Java cement plant
07 April 2015Indonesia: Semen Indonesia is carrying out a feasibility study for a new cement plant in West Java. The study is expected to be complete by December 2015.
Semen Indonesia appoints Suparni as CEO
28 January 2015Indonesia: Semen Indonesia has appointed its operational director Suparni as its new CEO. The state-owned company has taken the decision after receiving 69.6% votes from 76.1% its overall shareholders, according to The Jakarta Post. Suparni replaces Dwi Soetjipto, who has joined the oil and gas company Pertamina. The shareholders also appointed Rizkan Chandra to the board of directors.
Semen Indonesia may drop Myanmar investment plan
16 January 2015Indonesia: State-run Semen Indonesia may cancel its plans to invest in Myanmar if the company and its local partner fail to reach an amicable agreement over the partnership deal. Semen Indonesia's corporate secretary Agung Wiharto said that his company was facing another difficult round of discussions with its partner in Myanmar.
"Negotiations are ongoing, but we still haven't reached an agreement with our local partner on certain problems, including share price and the size of the stake to be acquired," said Wiharto. He added that if the prices demanded by the local partner were too high, Semen Indonesia would either seek a different Myanmarese company to cooperate with or move the expansion plan to another Asian country such as Vietnam, Cambodia or even Bangladesh. "We want a more reasonable price, as we will not only acquire a stake, we will also provide expertise, technology and human resources," said Wiharto.
Semen Indonesia announced in 2014 that it had decided to postpone its plan to acquire a cement company in Myanmar in 2015 after it missed its deadline to conclude negotiations in the middle of the year. Wiharto added that, to date, the potential partner had not yet determined the portion of its shares to be sold to Semen Indonesia.
While Semen Indonesia had planned to acquire a majority stake in its potential partner, Wiharto said that his company would be satisfied even if did not become a controlling shareholder. He declined to disclose how much investment Semen Indonesia had prepared for the expansion, simply saying that the cement producer had 'enough internal cash to fund the required capital.'
Semen Indonesia sales rise by 3% in 2014
15 January 2015Indonesia: PT Semen Indonesia Tbk has reported that cement sales grew by 3% to 26.4Mt in 2014. Domestic sales contributed 13.9Mt of the total sales, up by 7% from 2013.
Movers in Myanmar
26 November 2014A couple of news stories this week from Myanmar present an opportunity to look at the country. Lafarge has opened a cement repacking plant in the Thilawa special economic zone (SEZ). Upcountry meanwhile, Anhui Conch has had a joint venture approved by the government for an upgrade to an existing cement plant in Kyaukse.
Towards the end of 2013 the government announced that 13 companies were to establish joint ventures with the local state-owned cement plants. In addition the Myanmar Investment Commission had approved the construction of nine new cement plants with an aim of a target cement production capacity of 10.53Mt/yr. Following this, Siam Cement Group's on-going investment in a 1.8Mt/yr plant is due for completion in 2016. Semen Indonesia have been pushing for a joint venture since mid-2014 although it was still trying to agree terms in September 2014, according to local media. Italcementi's chief executive Carlo Pesenti also expressed his company's interest in setting up a joint venture in early 2014.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) investment bank CIMB placed cement demand in Myanmar at 4Mt in 2012 and a local cement production capacity of 3Mt/yr. Cement consumption was placed at 76kg/capita for the country's population of 52.8 million. In contrast, Thai cement engineering supplier LV Technology reported demand of 6Mt in 2012. CIMB recorded Myanmar's capacity utilisation rate at 60%. Cement sales were broken down as 95% by bag and 5% by bulk.
This kind of supply-demand gap excites foreign investors. Neighbouring Thailand has a consumption of 515kg/capita, Myanmar imports cement from Thailand, Indonesia and India and the country's GDP growth rate is currently estimated to be around 8%.
Yet what's notable about Myanmar's industry are the high number of small, low production capacity cement plants. Many of them are wet process plants. Only one plant is reported as being capable of producing over 0.5Mt/yr with the Siam Cement plant project due to significantly bust this record when it is commissioned in 2016. Limited limestone deposits in the country may also make plants larger than 1.5Mt/yr unviable. Fuel is also an issue, with LV Technology advocating a wholesale industry conversion from state-subsidised gas to coal due to power shortages and impending competition issues.
In 2015 Myanmar is set to enact free trade tariffs from its ASEAN membership. Without protection or preparation, its cement plants could face serious consequences from cheaper imports from Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. The move by the government to encourage joint ventures with foreign partners looks like one way to mitigate this. In a market report in 2013 CIMB described the situation for investors as 'high-growth, high-barrier.' This seems to be an apt description given the experiences of Semen Indonesia.
Semen Indonesia builds Tuban power plant
28 October 2014Indonesia: Semen Indonesia has commenced the construction of a 30.6MW waste heat recovery power generator (WHRPG) in an effort to reduce the company's electricity costs.
The facility will be located at Semen Indonesia's cement plant in Tuban, East Java and will cost US$52.9m. The power plant will make use of the heat generated from the cement plant. Construction is expected to take 26 months. Operations are expected to start in the second half of 2016.
In 2013, Semen Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japan's JFE Engineering Corporation for the WHRPG construction. "This will be the first project in Indonesia where waste heat in the whole area is utilised to supply the power plant," said Semen Indonesia president director Dwi Soetjipto. The company has applied similar technology at its Indarung facility in Padang, West Sumatra, on a smaller scale. Indarung power plant's capacity is 8.5MW and it started operation in 2011.
Once the power plant is completed, Semen Indonesia will be able to supply about one third of the company's energy needs at the Tuban plant. It could save US$9.95m/yr in electricity costs.
Semen Indonesia expands to Aceh Province
21 October 2014Indonesia: Following its plan to build a cement plant in Papua, Semen Indonesia has said it will soon expand to the west and develop another cement plant in Aceh Province to fulfil increasing local demand.
Semen Indonesia finance director Ahyanizzam said that the company was considering developing a cement plant in Aceh, as well as in Sulawesi and Kalimantan, in addition to its plan to set up a plant in Papua. Each of the plants would have up to 3Mt/yr of cement production capacity. The investment would be around US$352m, which would be sourced from bank loans. He added that Semen Indonesia is currently looking for suitable locations for the plants. "We expect to start working on the Aceh project in 2015," said Ahyanizzam.
Semen Indonesia expects cement demand in the province to rise due to the construction of the Trans Sumatra highway, a 2700km toll road project that stretches from Aceh to Lampung in 24 sections, connecting major cities in Sumatra. Four sections of the toll road began construction in October 2014 and are expected to be completed in 16 months, absorbing US$4bn of investment. The four sections are designed to connect Medan to Binjai in North Sumatra, Pekanbaru to Dumai in Riau, Bakauheni to Bandar Lampung in Lampung and Palembang to Indralaya in South Sumatra.
Ahyanizzam added that the planned cement plants were also projected to help Semen Indonesia cope with rising cement demand from across the country. Demand is expected to grow by 4% in 2014 and by 6% in 2015.
Semen Indonesia produces 31.8Mt/yr of cement and has a 44% share of the country's cement market. The company plans to boost its cement production to 39.3Mt/yr by 2016 and to 40.8Mt/yr by 2017 with the help of its new plants.
Semen Indonesia seeks loan for Papua plant construction
01 October 2014Indonesia: Semen Indonesia is seeking US$50 - 70m in bank loans to help finance the construction of a new cement plant in Jayapura, Papua. The company has recently announced its intention to construct the first cement plant in the country's most eastern Province, in order to meet the region's demand potential and to reduce distribution and logistics costs.
"For the Papua plant, we will seek external funds like from loans on top of equity injection," said Semen Indonesia's finance director, Ahyanizzaman.
He said that Semen Indonesia is still looking for suitable land and bank loans are expected to be secured in 2015. Semen Indonesia is completing the feasibility study for the project, which is slated to have a capacity of 0.6 - 1Mt/yr. Construction is anticipated to start in 2015.
Semen Indonesia considers cement plant in Papua
18 September 2014Indonesia: PT Semen Indonesia is considering the construction of a cement plant in Papua in a bid to supply the market in the country's easternmost province. Semen Indonesia president director Dwi Soetjipto said the location of the plant would be either in Jayapura or Manokwari, the two largest cities close to limestone reseerves, according to local media. The plant will have a cement production capacity of 0.6 – 1Mt/yr with an investment of up to US$100m.
"We hope the study can conclude soon so that we can include the investment needed for the plant in our next year's capital expenditure budget. It might take around three years to construct the facility before it can commence commercial operations," said Dwi Soetjipto.
According to Semen Indonesia's estimates, Papua consumes around 600,000t/yr of cement, or 40% of the total eastern Indonesia cement consumption of 1.5Mt/yr. Semen Indonesia supplies around half of Papua's cement market. With the new factory, it is expected to increase its market share to around 70%.
The company has projected that cement demand in Papua will hit around 900,000t/yr from around the time the company has finished building its new plant.
Increasing its market share in the region will place Semen Indonesia in competition with Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa and Semen Bosowa. Currently the company supplies the Papua market from its subsidiaries Semen Gresik in East Java and Semen Tonasa in South Sulawesi.
In 2013 Semen Indonesia built a rotary packing plant in Sorong, West Papua at a cost of US$13.8m. The plant produces 2200 bags per hour and currently supplies 300 - 400t/day of cement to the West Papua area.