Recently, Mexican cement maker CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V. (CX) posted decent results for the third quarter of 2009, considering the difficult economy.  Net sales decreased to US$4.2 billion versus US$5.8 billion in the comparable period in 2008, representing a decrease of 27% − or a decrease of 19% when adjusting for the exclusion of the Venezuelan operations − on the sale of the assets in the Canary Islands, besides currency fluctuations.  Lower sales in the quarter were primarily attributable to lower volumes, mainly from the U.S. and Spanish operations, as well as the exclusion of Venezuelan operations and the sale of assets in the Canary Islands.  EBITDA decreased 38% in the quarter to US$806 million from US$1.3 billion in the same period of 2008, or 30% when adjusting for the exclusion of abovementioned assets and currency fluctuations.  Cemex earned US$121 million in the quarter, ...

Earlier last week, cement maker CEMEX, S.A. de C.V. (CX), was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop technology for capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions at one of Cemex’s U.S. cement plants. CEMEX will work with RTI International and others to design a dry sorbent Carbon dioxide capture and compression system, a pipeline (if necessary), and an injection station. This commercial-scale Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) demonstration project may remove up to 1 million ton of Carbon dioxide annually. Only 12 CCS projects from industrial sources, including cement plants, chemical plants, paper mills, refineries, and manufacturing facilities across the United States were selected for the first phase of DOE funding. Cemex USA is the only cement company in America to receive funding for a large-scale industrial CCS project. The CCS projects are cost-shared collaboration between the government and ...

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For the second consecutive year, Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX) has been included in the global Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index. Praxair is the only industrial gases company to be selected for the global Leadership Index. This index, comprised of only 50 companies among 500 of the world’s largest corporations, recognizes leaders in climate change disclosure practices, based on their responses to an annual questionnaire. High scores indicate good internal data management and understanding of climate-change issues

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On July 28, debt-laden Mexican cement maker CEMEX, S.A. de C.V. (CX) posted weak results for the second quarter of 2009. Net debt at the end of the second quarter was $18,272 million, representing an increase of $238 million during the quarter.   Consolidated net sales decreased to $4,188 million, representing a decrease of 34%, compared to the second quarter of 2008 due to lower volumes from U.S. and Spanish operations, which was partially mitigated by price inelasticity. EBITDA decreased 41% year over year to $812 million and EBITDA margin decreased by 220 basis points from 21.6% in the second quarter of 2008 to 19.4% at the end of June, 2009.

Operating income decreased to $411 million in the second quarter of 2009 from $899 million in the year-ago quarter. This decline was due to the increase in costs and expenses on lower volumes both in the U.S. and Spain.

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In an effort to enhance the economy, the Brazilian Government recently announced a reduction in Long-Term Interest Rate (TJLP) and Tax on Industrialized Products (IPI) until the end of 2009.

TJLP, which provides a reference for loans by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) to companies, will drop from 6.5% to 6% a year. Again, IPI will be lowered for 70 items manufactured by the machinery and equipment industry, including wind energy generators, industrial freezers and industrial valves. In 2009, BNDES plans to provide R$120 billion (US$ 61 billion) to enhance economic growth and increase investment in companies.

In order to boost sales in the capital goods industry, the government has reduced the cost of financing purchase of capital goods in the country. The lines of credit to finance capital goods will now see a 5.5% lower interest rate.

Two credit guarantee funds will be established for the

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Paul Kedrosky over at Infectious Greed has one of those graphs where truly the saying “a picture is a worth a thousand words” speaks volumes. It truly is amazing how China dwarfs everyone – they are doing 10x more than any peer. In fact if I eyeball it, if you add every other country in the world together as one entity; it appears China would be consuming more. As I keep repeating, this economy is like an out of control Ferrari racing on oil slick mountain roads. How to keep control of the steering while is not something I’d wish on anyone.

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One name I’ve followed for a long time, is Mexican cement maker Cemex (CX) which is one of the world’s giants (#3 in the world). Unfortunately they are so intertwined with the US market, the …