Semen Padang (company)

The company traces its origins back to 1906, when a Dutch officer of German descent, Carl Christophus Lau, applied to the Dutch East Indies government for permission to establish a cement plant in Indarung^[4] Lau had previously discovered raw materials for cement production in the Indarung area. The application was approved about seven months later. Lau then partnered with several companies to establish the cement plant on 18 March 1910 under the name NV Nederlandsch Indische Portland Cement Maatschappij (NIPCM)^[5][6]

The company’s first kiln was completed in 1911 with a production capacity of 76.5 tons of cement per day. A second kiln with the same capacity was built the following year^[6]. By 1913, the company began operating the Indarung I Plant, with an annual production capacity of 22,900 tons of cement. In 1939, the plant’s capacity was increased to 170,000 tons per year.

During World War II, under the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, the company was managed by Asano Cement (now Taiheiyo Cement). Its output was used t support Japanese military needs. In August 1944, the plant was destroyed by Allied bombing. After Indonesia's independence, the company was renamed NV Padang Portland Cement Maatschappij (PPCM)^[3][7]. In 1959, the Indonesian government nationalized the company^[8], placing it under the management of the Industrial and Mining Enterprise Administration Agency (BAPPIT). In 1961, the company was converted into a state-owned enterprise (PN) under the name PN Semen Padang^[9]. In the late 1960s, political turmoil caused by the PRRI movement disrupted company operations, nearly leading to the closure and dismantling of the factory. However, West Sumatra Governor Harun Zain intervened and appointed Ir. Azwar Anas to lead the company. Under his leadership, Semen Padang was revitalized and survived.In 1971, the government converted the company into a persero ^[10] (state-owned limited liability company), and the production capacity of Indarung I was raised to 300,000 tons per year.

Over the following decades, the company expanded its production facilities: the Indarung II Plant began operations in 1979 with a capacity of 600,000 tons per year; the Indarung IIIA and IIIB Plants were launched in 1984 and 1986, each with the same capacity; and between 1990 and 1993, the Indarung IIIB Plant’s capacity was upgraded to 1.62 million tons per year. In 1995, Semen Padang officially became a subsidiary of Semen Gresik. The Indarung V Plant began operations in 1998 with a capacity of 2.3 million tons per year, and the following year, the Indarung I Plant was decommissioned

Between 2003 and 2011, the company optimized its facilities, increasing its total production capacity to 6.5 million tons/year. In 2012, Semen Padang began constructing a cement plant in Dumai (capacity: 900,000 tons/year). In 2017, it inaugurated the Indarung VI Plant with a capacity of 1.5 million tons/year^[2][3]

In 2019, PT Semen Padang produced 6.5 million tons of cement and 5.72 million tons of clinker, with detailed output since 2016 as follows:

Plant Capacity

The company’s total production capacity is 8.9 million tons/year, distributed as:

• Indarung II Plant – 860,000 tons / year
• Indarung III Plant – 720,000 tons / year
• Indarung IV Plant – 1,920,000 tons / year
• Indarung V Plant – 2,500,000 tons / year
• Indarung VI Plant – 2,500,000 tons / year
• Dumai Cement Mill – 900,000 tons / year

Indarung I was shut down in October 1999 due to efficiency and environmental concerns, as it still employed the wet-process method since its establishment in 1910.