Indonesia: cement consumption projected to grow by over 5% in 2016

Indonesia's biggest cement producer 7818 Semen Indonesia has projected that for 2016 there will be an over 5% hike in the overall cement consumption in the country.

That would compare with the preceding year, when consumption climbed 1% year-on-year from 59.9 million tonnes.

Driving over half of the nation's economy, cement consumption is one of the main local consumption indicators.

The Indonesian Cement Association highlighted that overall cement consumption between January 2015 and November 2015 grew 0.8% year-over-year to 54.9 million tonnes. That was driven by the 6.1 million tonnes consumed in November 2015, which marked a 4.7% yearly rise.

Semen Indonesia's corporate secretary Agung Wiharto noted that the cement consumption forecast was made on the back of higher infrastructure spending.

Among such projects are 13 dams, including Raknamo Dam in East Nusa Tenggara, and toll roads stretching for 40km across Indonesia.