Jakarta. Cement sales in January fell 2.9 percent from the same period last year to 4.5 million metric tons as heavy rain disrupted construction and weak commodity prices undermine demand in the mining and agricultural industry.

“The sales decreased due to high intensity of the rain and a weakened price of mining and agricultural commodities,” Widodo Santoso, the chairman of Indonesia Cement Association (ASI) said, on Tuesday.

Sales dropped the most in Kalimantan and Sumatra, islands in which their economies rely on palm oil production and coal mining. Kalimantan s sales dropped 13 percent to 327,000 tons last month, while sales in Sumatra fell 9.6 percent to 924,000 tons.

Cement sales in Bali and Nusa Tenggara dropped by 4.6 percent to 245,000 tons and by 4.1 percent to 334,000 tons in Sulawesi. Sales in Java were flat at 2.55 million tons, said Widodo.

Widodo predicted that sales would remain stagnant in February unless construction picked up.

“If the government quickens the infrastructure development in mid-March, it is possible that cement sales could increase,” he added.

Domestic cement sales reached 59.9 million tons in 2014, up 3.3 percent from the previous year.