Gresik's cement sales fall 16%

Gresik's cement sales fall 16%

JAKARTA: Indonesia's cement maker PT Semen Gresik Wednesday said cement sales tumbled 16% to 1.177 million metric tons in May from 1.393 million tons in May last year.

Gresik, Indonesia's largest cement maker, blamed the fall on a decline in domestic sales and export volumes.

Semen Gresik's domestic cement sales in May fell 11% to 950,868 tons from 1.065 tons last year.

Exports slumped 31% to 226,220 tons from 328,741 tons a year earlier.

During the first five months of this year, Gresik's total cement sales fell 13% to 5.148 million tons from 5.912 million tons during the same period last year.

Gresik underperformed the rest of the industry last month. According to data from the National Cement Association, countrywide cement output in May fell 2% to 2.233 million tons from 2.278 million tons in May last year.

Semen Gresik is 51% owned by the government and 25.53% owned by Mexico's Cemex SA de CV.- Dow Jones