Indarung I, a cement plant near Padang in West Sumatra, was built in 1910 by the Dutch company Nederlandsch-Indische Portland Cement-Maatschappij (NIPCM). It is the oldest cement plant in Indonesia and, according to its owner PT Semen Padang, the first in Southeast Asia.
The site had limestone from Bukit Karang Putih, coal from the Ombilin mines, and the port of Emmahaven (today’s Teluk Bayur) nearby for shipping. Cable lorries later carried materials and cement between the plant and Bukit Putus, near the coast.
The factory is no longer in use, and its archives are on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register.
A Cement Factory in West Sumatra
NIPCM was established on March 18, 1910, and built its cement factory at Indarung, near Padang. The plant began operating in 1913 with an initial annual capacity of 22,900 tonnes.
According to PT Semen Padang’s 2024 nomination for UNESCO’s Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register, Indarung was chosen after a 1903 survey by the German geologist C.C. Lau, who found its limestone and clay better suited to cement than deposits in Malacca or Java.
A laboratory test in Europe in 1905 agreed, and the result gave the Veth brothers the confidence to invest.
Finished cement went to Bukit Putus, near Emmahaven, and from there by cart to the port. By 1922 the plant already employed about 700 local workers, and for many families around Indarung, farming gave way to factory work.
Cement for Java, Penang and Singapore
Java was the main destination. Shipments to Tanjung Priok rose from 8,290 vaten (barrels) in 1913 to 47,315 in 1915, and cement also went to Cirebon, Semarang, Surabaya, Cilacap, Tegal and Pekalongan.
Further afield, the trading house Lindeteves sold the cement in Selangor and Penang, Internatio handled Singapore, and the shipping company KPM carried it to both ports. Early shipments also reached Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Siam (now Thailand) and Malacca.
In 1924 the company added turbines, generators and cable lorries from German manufacturers. According to the company’s 1924 annual report, the new equipment reduced costs enough for its cement to compete with Japanese products. By 1939, the plant’s annual capacity had reached 170,000 tonnes, according to PT Semen Padang’s 2023 company profile.
PT Semen Padang’s MOWCAP nomination form links the cement to Singapore’s port and Ceylon’s railways, though it does not name specific projects.
Nationalization and Closure
The Indonesian government nationalized the company on July 5, 1958. According to PT Semen Padang’s official corporate history, the plant was subsequently rehabilitated, and its annual capacity eventually increased to 330,000 tonnes.
Indarung I used the wet-process method. The company expanded its operations with Indarung II, a dry-process plant that began operating in 1979, followed by Indarung IIIA and IIIB in 1984 and 1986, respectively. Indarung V began operating in 1998, and Indarung I ceased operations in 1999.
Plans to preserve the historic site were also under discussion. PT Semen Padang was reported to be preparing to repurpose Indarung I as a museum.
Why Indarung I Still Matters
The Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP) added the Indarung I archives to its Regional Register at its 10th General Meeting in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in May 2024.
The collection covers 1910 to 1972, includes the deed of establishment, personnel records, annual reports, photographs of the plant’s construction, a map of the cable lorry route, a sketch of limestone collection, and contemporary newspapers and magazines.
Because few early records survive in Indonesia, many come from Dutch archives, including NIPCM’s annual reports from 1910 to 1960 held by the National Archives of the Netherlands.
The archive had earlier been designated a National Collective Memory by Indonesia’s National Archives in May 2023, and the plant itself is a national cultural heritage site, according to a 2024 Kontan report.
References
Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia (ANRI). Indarung I, The First Cement Plant in Southeast Asia (1910-1972). Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP), 2024. https://mow.anri.go.id/storage/warisan-dokumenter/regional/file/W4Y5v7Tk0q5o6yYiMsC4liMIwT3jaxivFHCEX5yJ.pdf
Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia (ANRI). Arsip Pabrik Semen Pertama di Indonesia 1910-1972. https://mowid.anri.go.id/arsip-pabrik-semen-pertama-di-indonesia-1910-1972
DutchCulture. Filling the Gaps of Indonesian Cement History. International Heritage Cooperation, 2023. https://internationalheritage.dutchculture.nl/en/news/filling-gaps-indonesian-cement-history
