February 2003 Edition
PRODUCTS
Marketers launched a near-record 31,785 new packaged goods items in Canada and the U.S. in 2002, but half of them will not be around a few years from now. The number of new product introductions in North America slipped by 0.7 per cent from 2001's record total of 32,025. A typical supermarket can accommodate 30,000 to 40,000 different items. Virtually all would have to be moved out just to make room for the new foods, beverages, household goods, pet products and miscellaneous items launched each year.
AIRLINES
Business for the world's airlines improved little in 2002. The International Air Transport Association reports that losses added up to US$13-billion, compared with US$18- billion in 2001. However, passenger numbers are forecast to rise this year.
SMELL
A new study shows that the distinctive smell inside a new car, often a source of satisfaction to owners, comes from the same form of pollution that causes sick building syndrome. The new car smell could contain up to 35 times the health limit set for volatile organic chemicals in cars in Japan. The chemicals found included ethyl benzene, xylene, formaldehyde and toluene used in paints and adhesives. In high densities, these cause sick building syndrome: headaches, dizziness and respiratory problems.
GM
A British study shows that creative use of genetically-modified crops could bring back declining farmland birds. The study is to be used in a government assessment of whether to give the go-ahead to GM crops. The three-year study found that there was more food for birds in the GM plots, together with a saving in labour for the farmer, because the weeds could be left unsprayed until after some birds' breeding season.
TRADE
Canada and the European Union are going to forge new bilateral trading opportunities but are not planning a free-trade agreement. Canada has long looked for a chance to broker a free-trade deal with the EU but the Europeans don't see it as a panacea for trade. Canada and the EU do about US$25-billion in trade each year making the EU Canada's second largest trading partner. Canada-U.S trade runs at US$1-billion a day.
MEXICO
In another down year for the global acquisitions and mergers market, Mexican firms have quietly increased their buying in 2002. In deals transacted both within the country and abroad, Mexican companies spent more than US$12-billion buying up new assets, more than triple the activity in 2001. Top Mexican exporters are now used to operating far from home, however some countries remain closed to Mexican goods. Brazil which recently relinquished its claim to being Latin America's largest economy to Mexico, remains a difficult market for Mexico.
BURGERS
A New York restaurant has introduced the world's most expensive burger costing US$41.00, before tax and a tip. It weighs in at 1lb. 4oz. and comes with fries. The burger is made from the finest Kobe beef imported from Japan where the cows are raised on beer and given daily massages to make sure they are truly succulent.
CHINA
They are laying track to Tibet. In Shanghai, they have constructed a commercial train with no wheels that races along on a magnetic cushion. Next, railway builders want to link the country's commercial capital to Beijing by bullet train. These are all part of a railway binge in China. Officials plan to lay 13,700 kilometres of track country-wide in the five years ending 2005. This will not just boost trade, but will develop areas left out of China's two-decade-old economic boom.
HOUSING
Despite a dip in December, Canadian housing starts finished 2002 at their highest level since 1989. Total housing starts for 2002 were estimated to be 204,857, representing a growth rate of 25.9 per cent compared to 2001, the highest annual growth rate since 1983. It is felt that low mortgage rates, growing employment and increasing incomes were responsible for the strong growth.
PHONES
The proportion of central and eastern Europeans with mobile phones is rising fast. Annual growth in Russia, Belarus and Albania exceeded 100 per cent last year, compared to a mere seven per cent in western Europe, where the market is nearing saturation. Russia accounts for over 20 per cent of subscribers in the region and one-third of the growth over the past year.
INSURANCE
Rich countries account for 90 per cent of global life and non-life insurance premiums. Yet insurance cover varies widely across the rich world. The Swiss buy the most insurance, while many Greeks lack adequate coverage. Among citizens of the European Union, Britons buy the most insurance, thanks in part to their fondness for using life insurance as part of their old-age savings.
SPACE
U.S. office vacancies reached 16 per cent in the third quarter of 2002, while rents fell and are expected to come under continued pressure, setting up a tough 2003 for landlords. The vacancy increase caps a two-year swing that saw the balance of power in U.S. office markets shift from landlords to tenants, who now can find bargain-basement rates for premium space and command generous concessions on interior construction costs.
HEIGHT
The world's tallest man-made structure could soon be towering over the Australian outback as part of a plan to capitalize on the global push for greater use of renewable energy. By 2006, an Australian power company hopes to build a 3,300-foot solar tower which would be more than twice the height of Malaysia's Petronas Towers.
Currently, the world's tallest free-standing structure is the Canadian National Tower in Toronto at 1,814 feet. The tower will generate enough electricity to supply 200,000 homes.
POLLS
According to a recent poll, 47 per cent of Canadians say their country has been a loser since the NAFTA was introduced, while 52 per cent of Mexicans felt the same way. Only 37 per cent of Americans said they believed they lost in the deal that was to open the borders of the three countries to freer trade. 48 per cent of Americans polled believed their country had been a winner as a result of the agreement.
TUNING
The first piano that tunes itself at the press of a switch goes on sale next year. An American inventor has devised an electronic system that tunes the piano in 40 seconds. When the piano leaves the factory its strings are tuned nearly a third of a semitone sharp. Then, using magnetic coils, the piano warms the strings to release tension and flatten the note to the correct pitch which is checked by a computer.
STEEL
China has eclipsed the U.S as the world's largest importer of steel. During the first nine months of 2002, China imported about 23-million tonnes, topping the 2-million tonnes imported into the U.S. in the same period. This year the gap is likely to widen with China expected to consume 10 per cent more steel, most of it imported.
TECHNOLOGY
Conmen in Austria won hundreds of thousands of dollars by planting a remote-controlled magnetic roulette ball on a table. They didn't win on every spin but improved the odds significantly. The group was only discovered when a croupier reached across the table to pick up the ball and it stuck to his cufflink. The gang was made up of one gambler, two people controlling the ball and two more keeping watch and trying to distract attention from their associates.
BIKES
It is estimated that 800-million bicycles are in use throughout the world--twice the number of cars in existence.
PLANTS
The Missouri Botanical Garden has launched a $100-million, decade-long effort to build a database that will include every tree, grass, flower, fern and moss known to humanity. Its creators hope the World Plant Checklist will offer scientists comprehensive information about the nature, range and conservation status of every plant species. There are approximately 400,000 plant species in the world, a quarter to a half of which are considered to be threatened by extinction.
REPAIRS
Homeowners in Canada spent an average of $2,580 repairing or renovating their homes in 2001, a 37 per cent increase from 1999. Roughly two-thirds of this amount was devoted to work contracted out and one-third to materials purchased separately by the homeowner. About 76 per cent of the 7.9 million homeowner households in Canada indicated that they had made at least one repair or renovation. A total of C$20-billion was spent.
ROYALTIES
The Supreme Court in Finland has ruled that taxi drivers must pay royalty fees if they play music in their car while a customer is in the backseat. The order even applies to the radio. Recently, two Finnish churches refused to pay royalties to the country's copyright society for the performance of Christmas hymns.
VISITS
Statistics Canada reports that museums, historic sites, nature parks, zoos, botanical gardens and planetariums had a good year in 1999, the most recent year for which figures are available. Attendance reached over 118 million visits, a record, and operating revenues hit almost $1.5-billion, up four per cent from the previous year.
BANANAS
This 10,000-year-old fruit has been traded for ivory, slaves, even fleets of buses and is one of the most popular fruits in the world. Now it is reported that fungi are threatening plantations globally. Because the fruit carries no seeds, it lacks the genetic diversity to adapt in the face of disease. Even genetic engineering is a near-impossible task. The first written record of the banana was in the 6th century BC in India. Today, the banana industry is worth US$10-billion annually.
CANADA POST
Each year the post office is left with literally tons of undeliverable goods, everything from digital cameras to leather coats. Under federal regulations, Canada Post must hold on to these items for seven months--in the case of jewellery for one year. After successful tests generated healthy sales, Canada Post plans to launch a large scale on-line auction of its undeliverable merchandise on e-Bay. It expects to raise over $1-million annually, part of which will be donated to charity.
VITAMINS
A U.S. nutritional supplement company is seeking Health Canada approval for a vitamin gumball. Each gumball provides the U.S. recommended daily allowance of 11 vitamins in five to ten minutes of chewing. In the U.S., vitamins do not require Food and Drug Administration approval. The gumballs retail for between US$6 and US$9 for containers of 36 and about US$13 for a canister of 100 in warehouse club chains.
LUXURY
China's only privately owned automaker is about to roll out the first car equipped for karaoke. The Beauty Leopard, scheduled to go on sale in April, will be equipped with a phone, navigation gear and a karaoke machine.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp
Marketers launched a near-record 31,785 new packaged goods items in Canada and the U.S. in 2002, but half of them will not be around a few years from now. The number of new product introductions in North America slipped by 0.7 per cent from 2001's record total of 32,025. A typical supermarket can accommodate 30,000 to 40,000 different items. Virtually all would have to be moved out just to make room for the new foods, beverages, household goods, pet products and miscellaneous items launched each year.
AIRLINES
Business for the world's airlines improved little in 2002. The International Air Transport Association reports that losses added up to US$13-billion, compared with US$18- billion in 2001. However, passenger numbers are forecast to rise this year.
SMELL
A new study shows that the distinctive smell inside a new car, often a source of satisfaction to owners, comes from the same form of pollution that causes sick building syndrome. The new car smell could contain up to 35 times the health limit set for volatile organic chemicals in cars in Japan. The chemicals found included ethyl benzene, xylene, formaldehyde and toluene used in paints and adhesives. In high densities, these cause sick building syndrome: headaches, dizziness and respiratory problems.
GM
A British study shows that creative use of genetically-modified crops could bring back declining farmland birds. The study is to be used in a government assessment of whether to give the go-ahead to GM crops. The three-year study found that there was more food for birds in the GM plots, together with a saving in labour for the farmer, because the weeds could be left unsprayed until after some birds' breeding season.
TRADE
Canada and the European Union are going to forge new bilateral trading opportunities but are not planning a free-trade agreement. Canada has long looked for a chance to broker a free-trade deal with the EU but the Europeans don't see it as a panacea for trade. Canada and the EU do about US$25-billion in trade each year making the EU Canada's second largest trading partner. Canada-U.S trade runs at US$1-billion a day.
MEXICO
In another down year for the global acquisitions and mergers market, Mexican firms have quietly increased their buying in 2002. In deals transacted both within the country and abroad, Mexican companies spent more than US$12-billion buying up new assets, more than triple the activity in 2001. Top Mexican exporters are now used to operating far from home, however some countries remain closed to Mexican goods. Brazil which recently relinquished its claim to being Latin America's largest economy to Mexico, remains a difficult market for Mexico.
BURGERS
A New York restaurant has introduced the world's most expensive burger costing US$41.00, before tax and a tip. It weighs in at 1lb. 4oz. and comes with fries. The burger is made from the finest Kobe beef imported from Japan where the cows are raised on beer and given daily massages to make sure they are truly succulent.
CHINA
They are laying track to Tibet. In Shanghai, they have constructed a commercial train with no wheels that races along on a magnetic cushion. Next, railway builders want to link the country's commercial capital to Beijing by bullet train. These are all part of a railway binge in China. Officials plan to lay 13,700 kilometres of track country-wide in the five years ending 2005. This will not just boost trade, but will develop areas left out of China's two-decade-old economic boom.
HOUSING
Despite a dip in December, Canadian housing starts finished 2002 at their highest level since 1989. Total housing starts for 2002 were estimated to be 204,857, representing a growth rate of 25.9 per cent compared to 2001, the highest annual growth rate since 1983. It is felt that low mortgage rates, growing employment and increasing incomes were responsible for the strong growth.
PHONES
The proportion of central and eastern Europeans with mobile phones is rising fast. Annual growth in Russia, Belarus and Albania exceeded 100 per cent last year, compared to a mere seven per cent in western Europe, where the market is nearing saturation. Russia accounts for over 20 per cent of subscribers in the region and one-third of the growth over the past year.
INSURANCE
Rich countries account for 90 per cent of global life and non-life insurance premiums. Yet insurance cover varies widely across the rich world. The Swiss buy the most insurance, while many Greeks lack adequate coverage. Among citizens of the European Union, Britons buy the most insurance, thanks in part to their fondness for using life insurance as part of their old-age savings.
SPACE
U.S. office vacancies reached 16 per cent in the third quarter of 2002, while rents fell and are expected to come under continued pressure, setting up a tough 2003 for landlords. The vacancy increase caps a two-year swing that saw the balance of power in U.S. office markets shift from landlords to tenants, who now can find bargain-basement rates for premium space and command generous concessions on interior construction costs.
HEIGHT
The world's tallest man-made structure could soon be towering over the Australian outback as part of a plan to capitalize on the global push for greater use of renewable energy. By 2006, an Australian power company hopes to build a 3,300-foot solar tower which would be more than twice the height of Malaysia's Petronas Towers.
Currently, the world's tallest free-standing structure is the Canadian National Tower in Toronto at 1,814 feet. The tower will generate enough electricity to supply 200,000 homes.
POLLS
According to a recent poll, 47 per cent of Canadians say their country has been a loser since the NAFTA was introduced, while 52 per cent of Mexicans felt the same way. Only 37 per cent of Americans said they believed they lost in the deal that was to open the borders of the three countries to freer trade. 48 per cent of Americans polled believed their country had been a winner as a result of the agreement.
TUNING
The first piano that tunes itself at the press of a switch goes on sale next year. An American inventor has devised an electronic system that tunes the piano in 40 seconds. When the piano leaves the factory its strings are tuned nearly a third of a semitone sharp. Then, using magnetic coils, the piano warms the strings to release tension and flatten the note to the correct pitch which is checked by a computer.
STEEL
China has eclipsed the U.S as the world's largest importer of steel. During the first nine months of 2002, China imported about 23-million tonnes, topping the 2-million tonnes imported into the U.S. in the same period. This year the gap is likely to widen with China expected to consume 10 per cent more steel, most of it imported.
TECHNOLOGY
Conmen in Austria won hundreds of thousands of dollars by planting a remote-controlled magnetic roulette ball on a table. They didn't win on every spin but improved the odds significantly. The group was only discovered when a croupier reached across the table to pick up the ball and it stuck to his cufflink. The gang was made up of one gambler, two people controlling the ball and two more keeping watch and trying to distract attention from their associates.
BIKES
It is estimated that 800-million bicycles are in use throughout the world--twice the number of cars in existence.
PLANTS
The Missouri Botanical Garden has launched a $100-million, decade-long effort to build a database that will include every tree, grass, flower, fern and moss known to humanity. Its creators hope the World Plant Checklist will offer scientists comprehensive information about the nature, range and conservation status of every plant species. There are approximately 400,000 plant species in the world, a quarter to a half of which are considered to be threatened by extinction.
REPAIRS
Homeowners in Canada spent an average of $2,580 repairing or renovating their homes in 2001, a 37 per cent increase from 1999. Roughly two-thirds of this amount was devoted to work contracted out and one-third to materials purchased separately by the homeowner. About 76 per cent of the 7.9 million homeowner households in Canada indicated that they had made at least one repair or renovation. A total of C$20-billion was spent.
ROYALTIES
The Supreme Court in Finland has ruled that taxi drivers must pay royalty fees if they play music in their car while a customer is in the backseat. The order even applies to the radio. Recently, two Finnish churches refused to pay royalties to the country's copyright society for the performance of Christmas hymns.
VISITS
Statistics Canada reports that museums, historic sites, nature parks, zoos, botanical gardens and planetariums had a good year in 1999, the most recent year for which figures are available. Attendance reached over 118 million visits, a record, and operating revenues hit almost $1.5-billion, up four per cent from the previous year.
BANANAS
This 10,000-year-old fruit has been traded for ivory, slaves, even fleets of buses and is one of the most popular fruits in the world. Now it is reported that fungi are threatening plantations globally. Because the fruit carries no seeds, it lacks the genetic diversity to adapt in the face of disease. Even genetic engineering is a near-impossible task. The first written record of the banana was in the 6th century BC in India. Today, the banana industry is worth US$10-billion annually.
CANADA POST
Each year the post office is left with literally tons of undeliverable goods, everything from digital cameras to leather coats. Under federal regulations, Canada Post must hold on to these items for seven months--in the case of jewellery for one year. After successful tests generated healthy sales, Canada Post plans to launch a large scale on-line auction of its undeliverable merchandise on e-Bay. It expects to raise over $1-million annually, part of which will be donated to charity.
VITAMINS
A U.S. nutritional supplement company is seeking Health Canada approval for a vitamin gumball. Each gumball provides the U.S. recommended daily allowance of 11 vitamins in five to ten minutes of chewing. In the U.S., vitamins do not require Food and Drug Administration approval. The gumballs retail for between US$6 and US$9 for containers of 36 and about US$13 for a canister of 100 in warehouse club chains.
LUXURY
China's only privately owned automaker is about to roll out the first car equipped for karaoke. The Beauty Leopard, scheduled to go on sale in April, will be equipped with a phone, navigation gear and a karaoke machine.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp
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