Updated A & A Racing Page

A & A spends a lot of time at various car shows, automotive events, drag strips, etc.

Many people ask about our connection to all things vehicle related. So, we decided to update our Racing web page a bit and add some more information about the history all the way to the most current events that we are involved with.

Check it out here - http://www.aacb.com/racing/

October 2008 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

October 2008 Edition

SHRINKAGE

 
Major ice cream makers, hit by higher dairy costs, have shrunk their standard containers to 1.5 quarts from 1.75 quarts, about one cup less than the normal 2 quarts of five years ago. Only the package shrunk, not the price. Other well-known products that are shrinking: Hellman's mayonnaise was 32 oz, now it is 30oz. Some Frito-Lay chips 12oz, now 10oz. Dial soap bar 4.5 oz, now 4oz and Bounty towel roll 60 towels, now 52 towels.

ANNIVERSARY

A quintessentially British item reaches its century this year, 100 years after New York merchant Thomas Sullivan accidentally invented it: the tea bag. In 1908, Mr. Sullivan was sending tea samples to potential customers when, to cut costs, he put a few pinches of loose leaves in several small silk pouches. The confused clients received the samples and, unsure of the instructions, reputedly dunked then into hot water, and the tea bag was born. The unintentional invention became so popular that an estimated 130-million cups of tea are drunk across the U.S. each day.

SIZE

The President of France has tasked a group of top architects to dream up a Grand Paris to rival Greater London that could stretch as far as the Channel. He has given ten architects, backed by teams of planners, engineers, sociologists and even philosophers, six months to come up with novel ideas of expanding the city, which at present is roughly 15 times smaller than Greater London. Paris has two million inhabitants compared to Greater London's 7.5-million.

HOME

Australia's booming economy and lowest unemployment rate in more than a generation is luring home thousands of expatriate Australians from Britain and the United States. About 34,000 Australians have returned from Britain in the past 12 months, the highest number ever recorded. In the first quarter of 2008, there was a 14 per cent decline in the number of Australians heading to London for work. Australia is awash with cash with the government enjoying a huge surplus and the national mandatory retirement savings scheme, now exceeding A$1-trillion.

RENT

London's West End has easily retained its position as the world's most expensive office market, though Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City has seen the sharpest hike in rental costs, rocketing upwards to US$85.84 per square foot. Moscow is the world's second most expensive office market at $232.37 a square foot. Rents in London are $299.54 a square foot.

FAME

According to Fame Us, there are now at least 70,000 Elvis impersonators around the world. When Elvis died in 1977 there were about 50. At this rate of growth it is estimated that by 2020, roughly one tenth of the world's population will be impersonating Elvis.

WINE

Buoyed by a fashion for pink, Rose wine, long dismissed as uncultured plonk, has overtaken white wine in volume of sales in France. It is estimated that more than one in five bottles of wines sold in France is a Rose, with gains coming from falling red sales. France's main Rose-producing region is Provence where Rose was first produced over 2,600 years ago. The Burgundy area is now producing more than two million bottles of Rose each year.

BOOKS

Statistics Canada reports that operating revenues for the book publishing industry in Canada edged down 1.2 per cent to C$2.1-billion in 2006 after increasing 3.2 per cent in 2005. Revenues fell 17 per cent in British Columbia and rose 12 per cent in Alberta. Spending on salaries, wages and benefits account for roughly 20 per cent of every dollar spent by the industry. The Canadian book publishing industry is dominated by firms in Ontario and Quebec which accounted for 91 per cent of operating revenues in 2006.

LATIN AMERICA

Many countries in the region are doing well as Latin America is enjoying one of its best periods of economic growth in 40 years. But Brazil is outpacing its neighbours and is emerging as an investment magnet. Direct foreign investment to Brazil doubled last year and Brazilians are spending money. High food and commodity prices, Brazil is one of the world's leading producers and exporters of minerals, soy, beef, chicken and grains, have brought in cash and created jobs. Sales of domestic appliances rose 17 per cent last year and cellphone use rose 21 per cent. Sales of notebook computers and plasma and LCD televisions almost tripled.

AIRSHIPS

The return of airships has long been predicted but efforts have so far proved uneconomical. Now, Boeing is getting into the business along with SkyHook International, a Canadian firm. They are to develop a heavy lift "rotocraft", a helium filled airship with helicopter engines, 91 metres (300 feet) long and capable of carrying 40 tonnes. SkyHook will test the market by operating two such craft before any more are built. Their ability to carry heavy loads up to 200 miles without refuelling will appeal to mining, logging and petrochemical firms by offering an alternative to building roads through wilderness areas.

THEFT

The crime of stealing catalytic converters has been rising rapidly. The pollution-reducing converters contain small amounts of the precious metals platinum and palladium, and have joined copper wire and sewer grates on the long list of metal items targeted by thieves eager to cash in on rising metal commodity prices. Five years ago platinum traded for about $608 an ounce, and palladium went for $208. Platinum now goes for $2,083 an ounce and palladium for about $468.

SUGAR

Changes are coming for this industry. Growing concerns about obesity, alarming scientific reports about artificial sweeteners and soaring agricultural prices are all having an impact. Sales of sugar and sweeteners in the U.S. are worth about US$4-billion a year. But, between 2002 and 2006, sales of white sugar in the U.S. dropped by 16 per cent. Sales of sugar substitutes in the same period shot up by 22 per cent but sales of these products are now flat due to troubling scientific reports. US Sugar, America's largest sugar cane producer, may go out of business altogether and sell its land for $1.7-billion to the state of Florida.

FARMS

Thousands of Americans have taken the hunt for organic fresh food to new lengths by "adopting" farmers and buying a share of their farm. A "share" in an organic farm's harvest, costs on average between $500 and $800 a season and guarantees weekly delivery of a box of fresh, seasonal vegetables. The number of community-supported farms has risen from fewer than 100 in the 1990s to almost 1,500 today. In New York City alone, there are 62 such schemes, including 23 vegetable farmers and up to 30 other meat, dairy and egg suppliers.

DRIVING

Due to the rise in gas prices, thousands of students across the U.S., including many who were previously reluctant to study online, have suddenly decided to take one or more college courses over the internet. The vast majority of the nation's 15-million college students, at least 79 per cent, live off campus and many are seeking to cut commuting costs. Some colleges have seen an increase as high as 24 per cent of students wishing to study online. Once an incidental expense, fuel for commuting to campus now costs some students half of what they pay for tuition.

BARRIERS

The NAFTA mandates that Mexican trucks be allowed to enter the U.S. Each year, more than four billion pounds of fruit and vegetable are placed in the trucks in the Mexican state of Sonora. When the trucks reach the border, the produce is unloaded in a warehouse. Then it is retrieved by another truck that takes it several miles into Arizona where it is unloaded again into another warehouse and then retrieved by an American carrier. The cost of the inefficiency and the cost of transferring fresh produce three times at one border is considerable.

INVESTMENT

The 30 members of the mostly rich OECD made foreign direct investment (FDI) worth US$1.82-trillion last year well above the record set in 2000. Direct investment flows into OECD countries also set a new record, rising by 31 per cent, to $1.37-trillion. America remained both the biggest financier and the biggest recipient of direct investments. The U.S. was followed by Britain and France.

HEALTHCARE

The European Commission has unveiled a healthcare package designed to make it easier for patients to get medical treatment elsewhere in the EU. Under the proposals, patients would not have to get their doctor's approval for non-hospital care abroad. The package is seen as an effort to give patients greater freedom in choosing where they get treatment. Currently, only one per cent of healthcare budgets in the EU are spent on cross-border healthcare.

FISHING

African politicians have been discussing in Namibia how to stop illegal and unregulated fishing. It is estimated that illegal and unregulated fishing costs Africa US$1-billion a year in lost revenue. Many African countries do not have patrol boats and in some states there is a problem with corruption with fishing licences sold illegally. As well as devastating some African fishing communities, the unregulated trade in many cases costs lives as local fishermen in flimsy canoes have had to go farther out to sea to find a decent catch.

RESERVES

Over 60 per cent of the world's proven oil reserves, those that can be recovered from known fields using existing technology, are in the Middle East. Add in Russia and Venezuela and the share rises to 74 per cent. Saudi Arabia alone accounts for over a fifth of the total. At today's rates of production, the world has enough oil to last for almost 42 years.

ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES

Canadian firms in the architectural services and landscape architectural services businesses, generated combined operating revenues of C$2.6-billion in 2006, an increase of 15 per cent from the previous year. Operating revenues for firms in Ontario accounted for more than two-fifths of the total national figure with British Columbia a distant second.

FOOD

Recent research show that the Top 100 fast-casual restaurant chains continue to bring the lion's share of growth for the limited-service restaurant industry in 2007, outperforming the restaurant industry as a whole. Fast-casual restaurants provide fast service and fresh, high-quality food in upscale settings. The Top 100 chains totalled US$14.8-billion in sales, accounting for most of the $17-billion that the entire fast-casual industry grossed in 2007.

WASTE

Between 2004 and 2006, the amount of waste received by public and private waste disposal facilities in Canada rose 8 per cent. In 2006, the waste management industry handled an estimated 35-million metric tonnes of waste. About one-third of waste sent for disposal came from residential sources and the other two-thirds from non-residential sources. The amount of waste sent for disposal rose in all provinces between 2004 and 2006 except in Prince Edward Island where the amount declined by almost 13 per cent. Waste in Alberta increased 24 per cent in the same period.

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