JAKARTA: Indonesian cement sales fell 3.3 percent year-on-year in the January-March period as activities in the infrastructure sector remains tepid.
Cement sales fell to 13.6 million metric tons in the first quarter of this year, from 14 million metric tons in 2014, according to data provided by the Indonesia Cement Association, or ASI.
“Infrastructure projects have yet to begin and are still in their preparation stages, so our sales were reduced,” ASI chairman Widodo Santoso said on Thursday.
“In addition, the government has not started construction on its one million homes program,” he said, adding that the rainy season has also delayed a number of other large projects.
President Joko Widodo last month announced his campaign to build one million homes across the country over the next five years.
Groundbreaking on the first leg of the project is scheduled for April 30 in Tanggerang, on the southern outskirts of Jakarta, according to Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono.
The cement association has targeted cement sales of 62 million metric tons this year, up 3.5 percent from last year.
