Not in Gresik: Indonesia's First Cement Factory

Many people believe that Indonesia’s first cement factory is located in Gresik, East Java. However, in fact, the national cement industry began in West Sumatra, specifically in the Indarung area, Padang.

The history of its establishment began in 1906, when a Dutch officer of German nationality, Carl Christophus Lau, applied for permission from the Dutch East Indies government to build a cement factory in Indarung.

Previously, Lau had discovered a potential source of raw materials in the area. His application received approval about seven months later from the Dutch East Indies government in Batavia.

After that, Lau partnered with several companies to realise the project.

Quoting the official website of PT Semen Padang, this cement factory was officially established on 18 March 1910 under the name NV Nederlandsch Indische Portland Cement Maatschappij (NV NIPCM).

Over time, the company underwent various changes, including the nationalisation process. On 5 July 1958, the Indonesian government took over the company from Dutch hands.

Post-nationalisation, the company began to recover through rehabilitation programmes and production capacity improvements. One of them was the development of the Indarung I factory, which reached a capacity of up to 330,000 tonnes per year.

As Southeast Asia’s oldest cement producer, PT Semen Padang continues to develop. By the end of 2020, the company operated five factory units in Padang and one unit in Dumai.

Its total production capacity reached around 8.9 million tonnes of cement per year, making it one of the major players in Indonesia’s cement industry.

In 1995, the government consolidated three state-owned cement companies, namely PT Semen Padang, PT Semen Gresik Tbk, and PT Semen Tonasa.

This consolidation was carried out through a policy of the Ministry of Finance, appointing PT Semen Gresik as the parent holding company, which later changed its name to PT Semen Indonesia Group (SIG).