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United Tractors sees sales slump despite construction growth
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Students listen as an instructor discusses Komatsu spare parts during a heavy equipment mechanics course at the United Tractors school. (Courtesy of http://www.unitedtractors.com//-)
T
he country’s largest heavy equipment distributor United Tractors (UT), part of diversified conglomerate Astra International Indonesia, saw its sales decline by 29 percent as of April to 689 units, compared to 966 units in the same period last year.
The decline came despite the company enjoying robust growth from sales in the construction industry.
"Construction is the only industry that remains increasing as our sales in this sector have been driven by infrastructure development,” UT corporate secretary Sara K. Loebis told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
As of April, the company’s sales in the construction industry had nearly doubled, growing by 92.27 percent to 427 units, compared to 222 units it sold in the first four months of 2015. With the higher sales, the contribution from the sector rose to 62 percent from 23 percent previously. The strong performance was in contrast to other sectors, namely mining, agriculture and forestry, which all experienced a drastic plunge.
The worst performer was agricultural industry sales, which slumped to as low as 21 units as of April, from 155 units in the corresponding period in 2015. Meanwhile, sales in the forestry and mining industries plunged by 64.34 percent and 54.61 percent to 96 and 145 units, respectively.
Despite the slump, UT remains optimistic about reaching its mid-year target of selling 1,000 units this year, Sara said, adding that heavy downpours across the archipelago could hamper mining activities and therefore deal a further blow to the company’s sales. (dmr)
