PT Dexin Steel Indonesia (DSI), a joint venture between Tsingshan Steel (China) and Hanwa Co (Japan), has just operated the third blast furnace in Central Sulawesi province, lifting production capacity to 7 million tons in late September 2023. That means the company needed only five years to reach that capacity. 

Some believe Indonesian bottled water market is dominated by two main players: Aqua (Danone) and Le Minerale (Mayora Group). This can be seen in their advertising war in all media platforms. How about medium-small players listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX)?

Cimory (CMRY) is now worth nearly US$2 billion despite the fact that it is smaller in size than established players like Ultrajaya (ULTJ) and Indomilk, subsidiary of Indofood CBP Sukes Makmur (ICBP). As mentioned earlier, Ultrajaya is now Rp11 trillion smaller than Cimory in terms of market capitalization.

Shares of milk producer Ultrajaya (ULTJ) ended slightly higher by 0.28% to Rp1780 on Wednesday (Nov 8) to make a market capitalization of Rp18.5 trillion. Smaller player Cimory (CMRY), meanwhile, declined by 1.4% to Rp3,660, reflecting market value of Rp29.5 trillion. So, the gap is Rp11 trillion.

Shares of Kalbe Farma (KLBF), the country’s largest pharmaceutical company, ended higher by 1.57% to Rp1,615 on Monday (Nov 7) even though the company reported a disappointing first nine months of the year, where its net profit dropped 16.9%.

Shares of PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk, the largest petrochemical company in Indonesia, opened flat this morning when the company announced a strategic partnership with state-owned aluminium company PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (INALUM). 

Insideevs.com recently reported that in Q3 of 2023, Volkswagen Group’s all-electric vehicle sales amounted to about 209,900 units (up 40.5 percent year-on-year), which is a new record – slightly higher than the previous quarter (205,800 units). BEVs accounted for 9.0 percent of the group’s total volume (compared to 6.8 percent a year ago), which is a noticeable progress.

President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo has reportedly discussed extension of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train (HST) with China president Xi Jinping this week. This will pave the way for extension of the HST from Bandung to Surabaya, the capital city of East Java, which is also the second largest city in Indonesia.

Indonesia booked trade surplus of US$3.42 billion last month, dropped substantially from US$4.97 billion in the corresponding month of 2022, mainly due to significant correction in thermal coal and palm oil/derivatives, two of the largest export commodities. But compared to August 2023, trade surplus in September grew 9.6%. Year to date, trade surplus reached US$27.75 billion, fell 30.3% year on year (y/y).

Nickel miner Vale Indonesia (INCO), co-owned by Vale-Sumitomo and MIND ID (holding company of state plantations) has reiterated its intention to proceed with some projects with estimated investment of US$10 billion, equivalent to Rp156 trillion, as part of its ambition to become a key player in the electric vehicle battery (EV Battery) ecosystem.