Cemex suffers 40% sales drop in 2011 Q4

Mexican cement firm, Cemex, suffered a 40% sales drop in Spain in the last three months of 2011, compared to the same period of the previous year. The company said demand had been particularly hit in the Levante and Catalonia regions of Spain. It believed the overall sales drop was due to weak levels of investment in civil engineering, the “almost complete disappearance” of residential construction, and the poorer macroeconomic indicators for the country.

Sustained recovery in demand for building materials in Europe and Central Asia helped Heidelberg Cement to record increases in both turnover and profits in the second quarter of 2011, compared to the same period last year. Turnover was up 3% to €3.4billion, while profit was up 25.2% to €208million due to lower financing costs. Despite the improvement in the bottom line, Heidelberg said that there had been a significant increase in energy costs in the last three months. Also, negative exchange rate effects i