Semen Gresik cement sales rise 15%

Semen Gresik cement sales rise 15%

JAKARTA: PT Semen Gresik, an Indonesian cement maker, Wednesday said its total cement sales in the first quarter of this year rose 15 percent on year to 3.42 million metric tons from 2.98 million metric tons, mostly because of an increase in domestic sales.

Semen Gresik's domestic cement sales during the period rose 17 percent to 3.02 million tons, from 2.58 tons in the same period last year.

Its cement exports, however, fell 0.4 percent on year to 398,737 tons in the first quarter of 2003.

Semen Gresik didn't comment on its sales performance.

The Indonesian government owns 51 percent of the company, and Mexico's Cemex SA de CV has a 25.53 percent stake.

According to data from Indonesia's cement producers association, national cement sales in the first quarter of this year rose 9.7 percent to 6.65 million tons from 6.06 million a year earlier. -- Dow Jones