Still Overshadowed By COVID-19 And Energy Crisis, Cement Producers Efficiency Of Raw Materials And Alternative Fuels

Cement product Solusi Bangun Indonesia. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Cement producer PT Solusi Bangun Indonesia Tbk (SMCB) or SBI must turn its brain to face various challenges this year. Especially regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis.

SBI President Director Lilik Unggul Raharjo said the pandemic and energy crisis were a strong signal of the urgency of the need for sustainable solutions. Therefore, SBI will focus on sustainable development-oriented initiatives that become competitive.

"Starting from the application of digitization for efficient operations, the use of raw materials and alternative fuels to increase the efficiency of coal use and reduce carbon emissions, to the creation of sustainable construction solutions according to current and future development needs," Lilik said in his statement. Thursday 24 February.

Throughout 2021, although it has not been said to have recovered compared to before the pandemic, domestic cement consumption has increased by 4.3 percent to 65.2 million tons compared to 2020 which reached 62.5 million tons. In fact, the export market rose 23.2 percent to 11.4 million tons compared to 2020 which reached 9.3 million tons.

According to Lilik, in addition to market overcapacity and the ongoing pandemic, the cement industry is also facing the challenge of rising coal prices in 2021 due to the global energy crisis. "This price increase has an impact on energy costs, which contribute around 30 percent to production costs," he said. Although overshadowed by various tough challenges in 2021, the synergy with SIG has succeeded in helping the former PT Holcim Indonesia maintain a positive performance by achieving total sales volume of cement and slag. by 13.4 million tons, an increase of 12.4 percent compared to the previous year.

The improved sales volume was also experienced by the finished concrete business by 25.4 percent to 1.1 million cubic meters, and the aggregate by 48.7 percent to 913 thousand tons. The synergy and various efficiency efforts carried out by the Company helped SBI maintain positive EBITDA and recorded an increase in net profit to Rp721 billion.