RI to produce 101m tons of cement annually

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will have 45 cement plants with a total production capacity of 101 million tons per annum in the year 2000, said Indonesian Cement Association's chairman Soepardjo.

"In the year 2000, there will be 22 cement plants in Java, seven in Sumatra, eight in Kalimantan, three in Sulawesi and five in the eastern part of Indonesia," he said at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Indonesian Institute of Cement and Concrete in Bogor, 60 km south of here, yesterday.

He noted that out of the planned 45 plants, some 36 already had licenses from the Investment Coordinating Board issued from 1991 to 1995.

According to Soepardjo, there are currently nine cement plants operating in Indonesia with a total production capacity of 26.5 million tons a year.

PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa's president, Sudwikatmono, said after the ceremony that the development of the 45 cement plants is an indication of Indonesia's readiness in facing international free trade, particularly the ASEAN Free Trade Area in 2003.

"That means that our cement industry will have a bigger chance to enter the world market as we'll see an oversupply in our local market," he said.

Sudwikatmono is optimistic Indonesian cement will be able to compete on the international market, partly because the country's producers have developed an international network for marketing cement.

He said Indonesian cement producers export to 23 countries.

"Its quite an achievement considering the government restricts cement exports by imposing quotas on producers to guarantee an adequate local supply. If we have more supply, we'll have a bigger chance to export," he said.

On the Institute of Cement and Concrete, the first of its kind in Indonesia, he said that it was set up on consideration that Indonesia needs an institution to study cement problems facing the country. (13)