PALEMBANG – Indonesia Cement Association (Asosiasi Semen Indonesian in Indonesian, or ASI) has projected that in 2021 the domestic cement consumption will increase around 7-8%. It is also estimated that the clinker and cement export will also rise by 10%. The primary reason is suspected to be due to 47,3% increase of state revenue budget in 2021 for infrastructure amounting to 414 trillion rupiah and the growth of domestic economy is estimated to increase by 4-5%.

The sales volume of domestic cement throughout 2020 is listed as 62,5 million ton. In reference to ASI data, this economic realization declined by 10,7% yoy and it’s noted to be the lowest growth within the last 10 years.

When Covid-19 virus had spread globally, including in Indonesia, the country’s economic performance had declined and so did its economic growth. Until the end of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic had caused Indonesia’s economic growth to decline by -2,07%.

“There were a lot of government projects that got delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic. Even so, there are still ongoing projects such as the construction of Indralaya – Prabumilih toll road, the Muara Enim – Lubuklinggau – Bengkulu toll road, and other projects that are being worked on can affect the cement consumption in Sumatra region” as explained by the Main Director of Semen Baturaja, Jobi Triananda Hasjim.

Facing such pressing situation, the company of Semen Baturaja was still able to make positive performance record throughout the year of 2020. The company maintained it performance through various strategic initiatives, some of which are: efficiency of business and production costs, fixing distribution system and organizing distributor. The company has pushed further to improve revenue through white clay sales. As a result, Semen Baturaja was able to significantly suppress cost of goods sold while also maximizing income with the record of 1,72 trillion rupiah and also improving EBITDA into 216,4 billion rupiah; an increase of 2% compared to 2019.

Other than that, the company has had diligently managed its cash flow while also setting priority of capital expenditure so it can successfully recorded Cash From Operation (CFO) of 393 billion rupiah at the end of 2020 and able EBITDA margin of 24%, far higher than the accomplishment in 2019 of 20%.

“Semen Baturaja is able to show its responsibility as a State-owned Business Enterprise by maximizing income amidst the middle of Covid-19 pandemic. We have a more optimistic view of year 2021 thanks to the acceleration effort to recover domestic economy which is hoped to be able to push for the infrastructural sector growth that will serve as the main sector of cement industry”, he lastly added.{}