SMGR Aims For Cement Exports To Africa To The US Due To Less Domestic Market Requests

JAKARTA - PT Semen Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (SMGR) or SIG has prepared a strategic expansion of exports more aggressively to compensate for sluggish demand for domestic cement.

Sales and Marketing Director of GIS Dicky Saelan assessed that currently the domestic market is still under pressure, so exports are an alternative to maintain the company's performance.

Based on GIS data, domestic demand for cement contracted by 2.5 percent on an annual basis/year on year (yoy) in the first semester of 2025.

In detail, the bulk segment weakened 9.4 percent yoy, while the cement bag grew slightly 0.5 percent yoy.

In annual volume, national cement demand is in the range of 62.5 million-65 million tons per year from 2020 to 2024. By 2024, demand was recorded at 64.9 million tons, relatively stagnant from the previous period. With this condition, the level of industrial utilization only reached 54 percent or far below the installed capacity of 120 million tons per year.

"Domestic markets are indeed quite depressed in terms of demand, so we see that there is a market in exports that we could have taken to compensate for this pressure," said Dicky in the Public Expose Live 2025, Friday, September 12.

Dicky said the GIS had exported cement to a number of countries, such as Australia and Bangladesh.

However, the company is now trying to expand its reach to new markets, including the African and Middle East regions.

According to him, export opportunities in the Middle East region are open in line with the construction of various giant-scale projects.

Selain itu, SIG juga berencana membidik pasar ekspor Amerika Serikat (AS) dalam waktu dekat.

"Kami berusaha dalam waktu dekat untuk melakukan ekspor ke AS. Kami sudah ada partner, tapi sedang menunggu proses penyelesaian jetty di Tuban. Ketika itu sudah selesai, mudah-mudahan di kuartal keempat ini bisa ekspor," kata dia.

Adapun sepanjang Januari-Juni 2025, pendapatan SIG terkoreksi 4,88 persen yoy menjadi Rp15,6 triliun, sementara laba bersih anjlok 92 perse yoy menjadi Rp39,97 miliar.

Penurunan kinerja keuangan itu disebabkan oleh melemahnya permintaan domestik semen sebesar 2,5 persen, meskipun penjualan ekspor naik 24,9 persen.

In addition, GIS is also planning to target the United States (US) export market in the near future.

"We are trying in the near future to export to the US. We already have a partner, but are waiting for the jetty completion process in Tuban. When it is finished, hopefully in the fourth quarter it can be exported," he said.

As for January-June 2025, GIS' revenue was corrected 4.88 percent yoy to Rp15.6 trillion, while net profit fell 92 percent yoy to Rp39.97 billion.

The decline in financial performance was due to a 2.5 percent decline in cement domestic demand, although export sales rose 24.9 percent.