Marketplace Program on National Public Radio Interviews Professor Gordon Hanson About Cemex
09/25/2007
Professor Gordon Hanson discusses the transformation of Cemex from a small Mexican firm to a global powerhouse in this Marketplace interview on NPR. Hanson is the director of the Center on Pacific Economies and a professor of economics.
Excerpt:
Arizona is one of the fastest growing states in the U.S., and that's led to a shortage of cement. And the largest cement maker in the country, a Mexican company called Cemex, is setting up shop. Dan Grech has more.
Dan Grech: Arizona needs cement. It's one of the fastest growing states in the country, which has led to shortages.
The new plant will produce 1.9 million tons of cement a year. That's almost the same amount Arizona currently brings in from Mexico and California.
Gordon Hanson's an economics professor at University of California San Diego. He says Cemex has transformed itself from a small Mexican firm to a global powerhouse. After forays in Europe and Asia, he says this new plant in Arizona is like Cemex building in their backyard.
Gordon Hanson: Cemex is not looking at the border as a dividing line between its markets. It's trying to serve the Southwestern U.S. market and the Northern Mexico market as a single entity.
Cemex will build its plant near Seligman, Arizona, population 800. Construction will last three years, and create 700 jobs.
Click here to listen to the story.
