Semen Gresik 2004 Cement Sales Rise 11%

Semen Gresik 2004 Cement Sales Rise 11%

Bloomberg Jakarta

PT Semen Gresik, Indonesia's biggest cement maker by volume, said cement sales rose 11 percent to 15.64 million metric tons last year from 14.03 million tons a year earlier.

Domestic sales in 2004 rose 12 percent to 13.4 million tons, while exports gained 8.7 percent to 2.23 million tons, the Gresik, East Java-based cement maker said in a statement today on its Web site.

In December, Gresik's cement sales rose 17 percent from a year earlier to 1.39 million tons, while domestic sales rose 13 percent, it said.

Faster economic growth and lowest interest rates in six years helped boost demand for houses and retail spaces last year, Gresik said earlier. Indonesia's economy probably grew 4.8 percent in 2004, the fastest in four years, the central bank said on Jan. 3.

Total sales by all Indonesian cement makers, including Semen Gresik and rival PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa, rose 8 percent last year to 37.7 million tons. Domestic sales increased by 9.1 percent to 30 million tons, Semen Gresik said, citing figures from the Indonesian Cement Association.

Last month, Indonesian cement makers sold 3.41 million tons of cement, 19 percent more than in December last year, helped by a 21 percent increase in domestic sales, Gresik said.