REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SORONG - Cement consumption in Indonesia is expected to reach 62 million tonnes this year, up 10 percent from 55 million tonnes in 2012, according to a senior official from the Ministry of Industry.

The Ministry of Industry`s director for downstream chemical industry, Tuti Rahayu, said here on Friday that the rise in demand for cement was due to increased infrastructure development across the country.

"Domestic consumption of cement increased by 14.5 percent last year, compared with 48 million tonnes in 2011. Even in Indonesia`s eastern regions, the demand increased by about 54 percent, far higher than other regions of the country," she noted.

Tuti stated that Indonesia needed to build at least two new cement factories every year to meet the rising demand for cement in the country. She pointed out that a number of private and state-owned firms had begun constructing new factories across the country, such as in Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Papua.

"In keeping with the Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia`s Economic Development (MP3EI), increasing the number of factories is part of the effort to support the MP3EI projects by meeting the domestic demand for cement," Tuti explained.

She said the government was focusing on infrastructure development, which was in line with the MP3EI program. As for the development of two new cement factories every year, PT Semen Indonesia president director Dwi Soetjipto said his company was planning to build one in Central Java during the first half of this year and another one in West Sumatra in the second half of 2013.

Each of the two new factories to be built this year will have a capacity of 2.5-3 million tonnes per annum. At present, Semen Indonesia a holding company of PT Semen Gresik, PT Semen Padang and PT Semen Tonasa controls 41 percent of the cement market share at home.

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