INDONESIA: Indonesia July cement sales rose 9.9 pct y/y

Indonesia's domestic cement sales, an indicator of economic growth, rose 9.9 percent in July from a year ago, up from 9.5 percent in June, data from the country's biggest cement firm PT Semen Gresik Tbk showed on Monday. Southeast Asia's biggest economy consumed more than 4.8 million tonnes of cement in July, up 7.2 percent on a monthly basis. The Moluccas islands and Papua led July growth at 51.1 percent, while main islands Java and Sumatra led sales volumes. "We are looking at higher monthly basis sales in July, most likely because sales in outer Java has started to pick up," said Salman F. Alamsyah, an analyst at Bahana Securities in Jakarta. June sales slowed due to project completion in Sumatra and Kalimantan and fears in May of a possible fuel hike, he added. Indonesia's cement sales fluctuate on factors such as holidays and government project completion deadlines. Data shows the economy expanded 6.4 percent in the second quarter, driven by investment and domestic consumption. Bank Indonesia on Thursday kept its policy rate at a record low 5.75 percent for a sixth consecutive month, saying the rate remained consistent with low inflationary pressures. Below are details of Indonesia's cement sales for 2011/2012:
  
 Month   Volume     m/m   y/y
        (tonnes)          
 Jul    4,811,416    7.2   9.9
 Jun    4,488,689   -4.9   9.5
 May    4,718,797   12.8  15.6
 Apr    4,182,793   -4.5  12.0
 Mar    4,379,022    7.8  16.2
 Feb    4,062,514    0.1  23.9
 Jan    4,059,711  -10.9  15.2
                              
 Dec    4,556,598   -2.2  16.6
 Nov    4,460,456   -4.4  26.3
 Oct    4,667,772   21.5  21.8
 Sep    3,842,978    6.7  48.3
 Aug    3,603,234  -17.7  -0.3
 Jul    4,376,898    6.7  16.8