April 2006 Edition
COLAS
United Arab Emirates-based Mecca Cola, touted by its makers as an Islamic alternative to Western brand soft drinks, has seen sales triple since anger erupted in Moslem countries over the cartoons published in Denmark. Muslin consumers in Europe were the target for Mecca Cola when it was introduced in 2002, but demand has now surged elsewhere. One billion litres of Mecca Cola were sold in 2005. In Malaysia, a key market, demand was 500,000 cans a month last year. It is now 1.5-million cans a month.
WRECKS
Last year CN Rail's main-line derailments jumped 35 per cent and rival CP Rail experienced a five-per cent increase while both carriers' accident rates climbed sharply over seven years. CN had 103 domestic main-track derailments, up from 76 in 2004 and 56 in 1999. CP had 66 derailments on main lines last year, compared with 63 in 2004 and 37 in 1999. CN's capital budget is C$1.5-billion this year with $800-million going towards replacing rail, ties and other track material, as well as upgrading bridges and signalling systems.
YACHTS
China's boat builders are turning to B.C. yacht engineers and designers in anticipation of a surging demand for large luxury craft as the number of wealthy Chinese continues to soar in the world's fastest-growing economy. While production in China is driven by low cost labour, most Chinese boat builders so far only manufacture smaller leisure boats. It is estimated that there are now more than 300,000 Chinese people with a net worth of at least US$1-million, excluding property.
PINEAPPLES
After 90 years in the islands, Del Monte states it will cease pineapple production in Hawaii in two years because the crop can be grown more economically elsewhere in the world.
WEATHER
The Journal of Science reports that in the late 20th Century, the Northern Hemisphere experienced its most widespread warmth for 1,200 years. Last year, Science published a paper showing atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane are higher now than at any time in the past 650,000 years.
FLOWERS
The cool Andean valleys of Ecuador offer ideal growing conditions for roses and produce luxuriant blooms. Ecuador is now the largest exporter of cut flowers to the United States after Columbia. Critics complain that the country employs child labour and that workers have suffered from exposure to pesticides and punishment for trying to form unions. Now, exporters representing almost three-quarters of the country's rose beds have applied for certificates to show they meet basic environmental and labour standards. Though the market for "green" and "organic" flowers is growing in Europe, it is still small in the U.S.
HEALTH
A chemical in vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage can boost DNA repair in cells and may stop them becoming cancerous. Another chemical in soy also performs the same role. Also, a "slimmer" potato with as few as half the calories of the normal potato has been discovered by scientists.
SPACE
It now costs more than US$26 to rent a square foot of space in a large warehouse close to London's Heathrow airport. The next most expensive space is found in Dublin, Hong Kong, New York and Tokyo. Industrial rents are flat in the U.S. but rising in parts of Australia and New Zealand where high-quality space is hard to find. Such shortages are no longer a problem in Toronto where speculators are struggling to fill all the new warehouses they have built.
HOUSES
The average price of a home in Britain reached nearly US$353,000 in February, up 2.7 per cent from January's $343,000, the highest jump in two years. The price is being driven by a shortage of sellers and rising demand from buyers. The most expensive houses were in Greater London where the average asking price was nearly $517,000.
WATER
In 2004, the world consumed 154-billion litres of bottled water, an increase of 57 per cent in just half a decade. Huge resources are needed to draw it from the ground, add minerals, and package and distribute it, sometimes halfway around the world. Critics claim that, in industrialized countries, bottled water is no more pure and healthy than water that comes from taps.
MALARIA
The World Health Organization estimates that malaria costs poor sub-Saharan Africa US$12-billion a year in lost output and consumes 40 per cent of all the region's public-health spending.
CULTURE
Unesco has made a brave attempt to compare national data on international trade. In its report International Flows of Selected Cultural Goods and Services, 1994-2003, Unesco figures that world trade in all categories of cultural goods (including visual art, heritage goods, books, newspapers, recorded media, audiovisual etc) almost doubled from US$39-billion in 1994 to $59-billion in 2002, representing around one per cent of total world trade. The Unesco report also estimates that cultural and creative industries account for over 7 per cent of the world's gross domestic product.
SIZE
Royal Caribbean International has ordered the world's largest and most expensive cruise ship, a US$1.24-billion vessel that will hold up to 6,400 passengers. It's the latest step in the industry trend of supersizing ships. The ship, likely to be built in Finland, will be 1,180 feet long, 154 feet wide at water level and 240 feet high.
MAPPING
Statistics Canada reports that Canada's surveying and mapping industry generated C$1.95-billion in operating revenues in 2004. Operating revenues for firms classified under geophysical surveying and mapping rose to $1.07-billion, up 9.5 per cent over a year earlier while non-geophysical (land surveying) revenue was steady in 2004 generating $885-million.
SPRAWL
According to the national Resources Inventory, about 13.8 million hectares of countryside in the U.S.--an area the size of Illinois--was converted to developed uses between 1982 and 2001.
SCHOOLS
Students who are veteran computer users tend to do better at school than those with limited experience according to a study by the OECD. Although access to computers is now common at school, the study shows that 15-year-olds use computers more often at home. Usage at school is highest in Britain, Denmark and Australia. The U.S. and Canada are eighth and tenth respectively.
SANITARY
Scientists in Australia have developed an environmentally friendly coating containing special nanoparticles that could do the job of cleaning and disinfecting for us. Previously, self-cleaning materials were limited to outdoor applications because ultraviolet light was required to activate the molecules in the coatings.
POLLUTION
Pigeons fitted with cellphone backpacks are to be used to monitor air pollution in California. Researchers will fit a flock of 20 birds with a tiny mobile circuit board containing sensors to detect carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. A miniature camera and a link to the GPS satellite system will enable the birds to send back text messages and pictures from smog-filled areas.
TRUCKING
Net income for trucking companies reached C$1.5-billion in 2004 compared with an average of $1-billion over the previous three years. There were 3,114 Canada-based trucking companies with annual revenues of more than $1-million in 2004, a 7.6 per cent increase from 2003. Trucking is the dominant mode, in terms of revenue, for transporting goods between Canada and the U.S.
SCENTS
Every year, the US$6-billion American perfume industry launches 350 new scents.
BRANDS
A recent survey by the market research company ACNielson shows that the Italian fashion labels Giorgio Armani and Gucci are the world's most coveted brands. The survey polled 21,000 people in 42 countries. One in three consumers said they would buy Armani or Gucci products if money weren't an issue. Another Italian label, Versace ranked third. Among the other brands consumers said they most desire are Christian Dior, Ralph Lauren and Louis Vuitton.
BABIES
Fertility treatment is a business with more than one million customers and revenues of US$3-billion a year in America alone. Top quality eggs cost about $50,000. A surrogate mother costs about $59,000. Guatemala generates around US$50-million a year by exporting babies at around $25,000 a time. These businesses thrive, in part, because they are in a global industry that is regulated nationally which leaves huge loopholes to be exploited by the customer willing to travel.
RETIRING
Scientists have predicted that the development of anti-aging therapies that significantly extend lifespan will lead to retirement ages needing to be raised as high as 85 by the middle of the century. If medical advances increase the average age of death by 20 years by 2050, few countries' economies will be able to cope without forcing people to work for much more of their lives. In countries such as Britain and the U.S., the retirement age would have to rise to 85 to maintain today's ratio of working people to the retired. In Sweden, even this increase would not be sufficient.
SNACKS
In an attempt to win the snack food dollars of Canada's largest ethnic group, one company is launching a new line of Asian-inspired potato chips and snacks. Bags of wasabi and spicy curry-flavoured chips are now on the shelves of grocery stores in Vancouver and Toronto. Chips account for more than 50 per cent of Canada's $1.1-billion salty snack food market. In the Greater Toronto area alone, South Asians annually spend C$12.6-billion on retail goods and services and Chinese consumers spend $12.2-billion.
SHIPPING
One large forestry company is launching a new ocean shipping service from British Columbia to southern California to bypass costly transportation bottlenecks most of which are along the I-5 corridor through the U.S. The ship has a capacity of 10,200 gross tonnes and will be able to carry both break-bulk cargo and containers. The ship is to complement the company's current modes of truck, rail and barge transportation but more shipping may be in the company's future.
OUTSOURCING
A study by the Asia Pacific Foundation has found that the outsourcing of production to Asia is not as popular in Canada as it is in the U.S. A survey of 110 Canadian companies with a presence in Asia shows that the main reason for their investment there is to serve the growing Asia market. Only 12 per cent of respondents said their investments were aimed at serving Canada while 62 per cent said their Asian activities were aimed at the Asian market.
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