Komatsu leads RI excavator market

Komatsu leads RI excavator market

JAKARTA (JP): Japan's Komatsu led the Indonesian excavators
market in 1996, followed by Japan's Hitachi and the United
States' Caterpillar, a heavy equipment company said.

Rustam Effendi, president of PT Hexindo Adiperkasa, the
distributor of Hitachi heavy equipments, said Komatsu made 33
percent of last year's sales of 2,900 excavators in Indonesia.

Hitachi and Caterpillar excavators each claimed 24.97 percent
and 22.25 percent of sales respectively.

The remaining 19.78 percent of the market was filled by other
brands from Japan and South Korea.

"Hexindo managed to increase its share of the excavator market
in Indonesia from 23.7 percent in 1995 to almost 25 percent or
727 machines in 1996," Rustam said after the company's
shareholders general meeting Thursday.

Hexindo Aiperkasa is a joint venture of PT Hexindo Adiperwira
of Indonesia, Hitachi Construction Machinery of Singapore and
Itochu Corp of Japan.

PT Hexindo Adiperwira, Hitachi and several other companies
have also set up another joint venture to manufacture excavators
and heavy equipment components in the Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta,
industrial estate.

Komatsu excavators are sold here by PT Komatsu Indonesia, a
joint venture by Komatsu Ltd, Sumitomo Corp, Marubeni Corp -- all
from Japan -- and PT United Tractors of Indonesia.

Komatsu Indonesia also manufactures excavators, bulldozers,
wheel loaders and motor graders in Cakung Cilincing, North
Jakarta.

Caterpillar Ltd has set up a joint venture, PT Trakindo Utama,
to distribute its products in Indonesia.

Trakindo also manufactures excavators, bulldozers, wheel
graders and motor graders here.

Rustam said the production of four main heavy equipments --
hydraulic excavators, bulldozers, wheel graders and motor graders
-- by Komatsu, Hitachi and Caterpillar in Indonesia reached 3,336
last year.

The figure still fell short of last year's demand for those
products which reached 4,285 machines, he said.

Rustam projected that domestic sales of heavy equipment
machines would increase 10 percent this year, especially because
of the growing demand from pulp industry and shrimp pond
operations.

But demand from construction and mining sectors, the main
consumers of such machines, would remain the same this year, he
said. (jsk)