Rupiah Weakens, Ceramic Prices Rise Up

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - The weakening of the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar affects the price of building materials such as ceramics.

"The increase reached 20 percent, from the previous Rp 40,000 per square meter," said Alia, one of the employees at the Pojok Makmur Ceramic Shop

Alia said, the price was pegged to the lowest quality or the cheapest ceramics. The strengthening of the dollar not only affected ceramic prices, but also sales targets.

Alia revealed, if the average sales target is usually IDR 10 million per month, now it will increase to IDR 30 million per month.

To get around this, he made several adjustments to attract buyers. One of them is with ceramic discount promos. "The way is by holding a discount promo for new products, then the old product is adjusted to the price to attract buyers," Alia said.

In addition to discount promos, some ceramic stores also replace branded goods, while maintaining old prices.

In some other conventional building shops, the price of ceramics is in the range of Rp. 45,000 per square meter to Rp. 195,000 per square meter depending on type, brand and size.