While Mexico has said it would never agree to pay for the border wall proposed by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, analysts say a Mexican company could profit from its construction.
CEMEX is a global leader in cement construction with production plants all along the U.S.-Mexico border. For this reason, analysts with the investment research firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. predict it's well positioned to supply materials for a border wall. Their research concludes that concrete is the most cost effective material for the 40-foot wall proposed by Trump.
"We believe that there aren't really any alternatives that would work other than a concrete wall built of precast concrete panels," said analyst Nick Timpson. "It's the same as they used for the West Bank barrier, the Berlin Wall was concrete."
In a report released Friday, researchers also highlight other potential suppliers, such as the U.S. based CalPortland Company, Inc., located within 200 miles of the border. They estimate building a wall could cost at least $15 billion and require 2.4 million tons of cement.
Read the full report from Bernstein & Co. here