June 2011 Edition
REVENUE
U.S. Internet advertising revenue jumped 15 per cent to US$26-billion in 2010, setting a record high and proving that more companies are trying to reach people online. The most popular form of advertising was search, which represented 46 per cent of revenue and increased 12 per cent from 2009. Digital video ads accounted for 5 per cent of total advertising dollars spent.
WORK
A study of 29 industrialized countries released by the OECD shows that workers in Mexico work the longest days while Belgians work the shortest. Mexicans toil for 10 hours each day on average, in paid and unpaid work, such as household chores. Belgians work just seven hours, an hour less than the average of most other OECD countries. Canadians clocked in at 8.6 hours worked each day while Americans work 8.2 hours each day.
CARS
Men prefer their cars beefy, while women go for lower price tags and better fuel economy according to a new survey which studied data from 8-million purchases in the U.S. BMW AG's Mini had the highest percentage of female buyers at 48 per cent while 93 per cent of buyers for Fiat SpA's Ferrari were men. There were 12 brands with more than 40 per cent female buyers. The top selling model for women with a minimum of 1,000 retail sales was the Volkswagen New Beetle at 61 per cent while for men it was the Porsche 911 at 88 per cent.
COPPER
Last February the price of copper reached a record high of US$10,000 per tonne. This is leading to a surge in stealing which is disrupting rail traffic in Europe. There have now been 10,000 hours of train delays in Europe due to copper-wire thefts. 30,000 kilometres of copper cable lie along tracks in France and 50 police helicopters are now monitoring tracks for thieves. In 2010, there was 30-million euros of damage to French railways because of copper theft.
PHONES
According to a new Oxford University study, British consumers are spending US$7-billion too much on cell phone contracts because they wrongly estimate how many minutes and text messages they use each month. It was found that three-quarters of all cell phone users were on the wrong contract and that the average consumer could save at least $275.00 each year. The average cell phone bill in the UK is $615.00 annually.
AID
The Development Assistance Committee of the OECD reports that rich countries provided a record amount of US$128.7-billion in foreign aid in 2010. America, Britain, France, Germany and Japan were the biggest donors in absolute terms. Relative to the size of their economies, however, Norway and Sweden were the most generous. Most rich countries now give a larger fraction of their GDP in aid than they did in 2005, but few countries have reached the UN's goal of at least 0.7 per cent of GDP.
OIL SANDS
The majority of Americans surveyed, while admitting they are not familiar with Alberta's bitumen deposits, believe their government should enact legislation that supports the Canadian oil sands and that the U.S. should increase the amount of crude it imports from its northern neighbour. Only 26 per cent said they were familiar with Canada's vast oil sands. Despite this, 86 per cent want policies that support the use of oil sands. Americans, while wildly underestimating the amount of Canadian crude exported to the U.S., believe Canada should send four million barrels south each day, which would double Canada's exports.
GENETICS
Wales is set to be the first country to produce a DNA barcode for every one of its native flowering plants. The project will aim to catalogue all 1,143 species of native flowering plant based on each plant's unique gene sequence. This would mean that the tiniest fragment of grain or pollen grain could be used to identify any plant in Wales. As well as leading to a better understanding of plants' genetics, it will help biologists to track the status of pollinating insects, such as bees. The data could also be used to test the authenticity of Welsh products including honey.
HAZARDS
Massive floating islands of houses, cars, and even bodies, almost 70 miles in length from the Japanese tsunami are causing chaos in the shipping lanes of the Pacific Ocean as they head west to the coast of North America. Cars, tractors, boats and the occasional entire house have been spotted floating on the surface of the Pacific. The largest island of debris stretches 60 nautical miles in length and covers an expanse of more than 2.2-million square feet. Experts estimate it could take two years for the debris to reach Hawaii and three to get to the West Coast.
SYRUP
Villages in Quebec have created a Strategic Reserve of over 10-million kilograms of maple syrup. Producers are preparing for what they expect to be a banner year for exports to Asia due to surging demand from countries like Japan, China and South Korea. Those markets are increasingly important to the people who make maple syrup, mostly in Quebec, but also in Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The biggest market continues to be the U.S. but the country spent 15 per cent less on maple syrup and maple sugar in 2010 than it did the year before, dropping to US$143-million from $169-million.
AUSTRALIA
The twin natural disasters that hit Australia early this year will cost its economy around US$9.4-billion. This is a substantial increase on the earlier estimate of around $5.5-billion.The Australian states of Queensland and Victoria were hit by floods and a cyclone in January and February. The biggest effect will be on the coal industry with output down about a fifth. Lost coal production could cost the country about $6.0-billion while damage to crops is about $2-billion and the loss in tourist activity about $400-million.
BREAD
White bread, the mainstay of Britain's diet for decades, has fallen from favour for the first time as more consumers switch to brown bread. Industry sales figures indicate that sales of white bread fell one per cent last year while brown bread rose by six per cent and seeded bread products by nine per cent. For much of the last two centuries, brown bread has been considered an inferior product, eaten only by those who could not afford white bread. The white bread market in the UK is worth US$1.4-billion a year in sales while the brown bread market is worth $423-million.
CITATIONS
Science is becoming bigger and more global. Britain's Royal Society, the world's oldest scientific academy, states that emerging scientific nations are gaining influence, as measured by how often their researchers get cited in peer-reviewed journals. China and Spain with 4 per cent and three per cent of global citations respectively in 2004-2008, pushed Australia and Switzerland out of the top ten for the previous five years. The U.S. and Britain retain the most clout with 38 per cent of global citations, but this down from 45 per cent in the previous five years.
LOSSES
The recent U.S. census shows that Detroit is dying, having lost a quarter of its population, 273,500 people, from 2000 to 2010. After New Orleans, which lost 29 per cent of its population after Hurricane Katrina, Detroit's loss is the largest percentage drop in the history of an American city with more than 100,000 people. Just 10 years ago, Detroit was the tenth-largest city in the country. Up until 1950, during the auto boom, Detroit was the fourth biggest city in the U.S.
DRINKING
Whisky drinking has increased worldwide despite the global recession, or perhaps because of it. The Scotch Whisky Association reports 2010 was a record year with total shipments valued at US$5.37-billion, making it one of the U.K's top exporting industries. The U.S. is by far the largest market for whisky but exports to many regions, notably emerging markets, grew last year. Exports to Russia increased by 61 per cent last year; by 46 per cent to India and by 24 per cent to China. There has been a 60 per cent increase in global exports of Scotch whisky since 2000.
DAIRIES
Nearly half of China's 1,176 dairies are being shut down after failing to obtain new licences resulting from a government safety audit. The announcement comes as China tries to shore up its milk industry after the baby milk health scandal in 2008 when at least six babies died and another 300,000 were made ill by drinking infant formula tainted with melamine. Only 114 of 145 companies making milk powder have had their licences renewed.
CADMIUM
Effective January 1, 2012, it will be illegal to sell children's jewellery in the state of California that contains more than 0.003 per cent (300 parts per million) of cadmium. The new law applies to those that manufacture, ship, sell or offer jewellery for sale for children ages six years old or younger. Cadmium is alleged to cause delayed brain development, cancer, kidney problems and bone damage. Ironically, cadmium has been used as a replacement for lead to avoid these very issues.
SEAFOOD
The U.S imports 83 per cent of its seafood. These imports were worth US$14.2-billion in 2008 of which Canada earned a 22 per cent share. The lobster market was worth $1.1-billion with Canada supplying 67 per cent of the total. Restaurants in the U.S. are responsible for 70 per cent of seafood sales in the U.S. While Canada has the largest share of U.S. seafood imports, a trend towards cheaper seafood products has eroded that share in favour of China in recent years.
TRENDS
Thousands of shops in the UK are getting ready for the roll-out of a new technology which could allow shoppers to use cell phones to buy things. It's called Near Field Communications (NFC) technology and some of the biggest retailers think it is the wave of the future. One estimate suggests 40,000 businesses could be using it by the end of the year. The technology isn't new but it has never been tried on such a large scale. Cell phone operators and manufacturers, banks and retailers are all investing millions to make the technology a success.
PANAMA
Construction of the Panama Canal expansion, which will enable vessels twice the size to navigate the passage, will likely finish in 2014. The new canal will allow the world's largest ships, called post-Panamax vessels, which are up to 366 metres long and 49 metres wide, to use the passage. An expanded canal will have ripple effects for global trade , boosting activity for east coast U.S. ports and reducing it in the west, where unloaded cargo has to continue by rail to the east.
GROWTH
While many analysts are focused on opportunities in Brazil, Russia, India and China, the best of the US$300-trillion rise in the world GDP between now and 2050 will occur in a new set of emerging markets. For instance: Nigeria is forecast to have a 8.5 per cent growth in its GDP; Iraq, 7.7 per cent; Bangladesh, 7.5 per cent. Vietnam, 7.5 per cent and the Philippines, 7.3 per cent. The lowest growth will occur in Japan, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
CHLORINE
A budget-conscious council in Austria is asking swimmers to stop swallowing water to save money. They estimate bathers are drinking 5,000 litres of chlorinated water daily.
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
U.S. Internet advertising revenue jumped 15 per cent to US$26-billion in 2010, setting a record high and proving that more companies are trying to reach people online. The most popular form of advertising was search, which represented 46 per cent of revenue and increased 12 per cent from 2009. Digital video ads accounted for 5 per cent of total advertising dollars spent.
WORK
A study of 29 industrialized countries released by the OECD shows that workers in Mexico work the longest days while Belgians work the shortest. Mexicans toil for 10 hours each day on average, in paid and unpaid work, such as household chores. Belgians work just seven hours, an hour less than the average of most other OECD countries. Canadians clocked in at 8.6 hours worked each day while Americans work 8.2 hours each day.
CARS
Men prefer their cars beefy, while women go for lower price tags and better fuel economy according to a new survey which studied data from 8-million purchases in the U.S. BMW AG's Mini had the highest percentage of female buyers at 48 per cent while 93 per cent of buyers for Fiat SpA's Ferrari were men. There were 12 brands with more than 40 per cent female buyers. The top selling model for women with a minimum of 1,000 retail sales was the Volkswagen New Beetle at 61 per cent while for men it was the Porsche 911 at 88 per cent.
COPPER
Last February the price of copper reached a record high of US$10,000 per tonne. This is leading to a surge in stealing which is disrupting rail traffic in Europe. There have now been 10,000 hours of train delays in Europe due to copper-wire thefts. 30,000 kilometres of copper cable lie along tracks in France and 50 police helicopters are now monitoring tracks for thieves. In 2010, there was 30-million euros of damage to French railways because of copper theft.
PHONES
According to a new Oxford University study, British consumers are spending US$7-billion too much on cell phone contracts because they wrongly estimate how many minutes and text messages they use each month. It was found that three-quarters of all cell phone users were on the wrong contract and that the average consumer could save at least $275.00 each year. The average cell phone bill in the UK is $615.00 annually.
AID
The Development Assistance Committee of the OECD reports that rich countries provided a record amount of US$128.7-billion in foreign aid in 2010. America, Britain, France, Germany and Japan were the biggest donors in absolute terms. Relative to the size of their economies, however, Norway and Sweden were the most generous. Most rich countries now give a larger fraction of their GDP in aid than they did in 2005, but few countries have reached the UN's goal of at least 0.7 per cent of GDP.
OIL SANDS
The majority of Americans surveyed, while admitting they are not familiar with Alberta's bitumen deposits, believe their government should enact legislation that supports the Canadian oil sands and that the U.S. should increase the amount of crude it imports from its northern neighbour. Only 26 per cent said they were familiar with Canada's vast oil sands. Despite this, 86 per cent want policies that support the use of oil sands. Americans, while wildly underestimating the amount of Canadian crude exported to the U.S., believe Canada should send four million barrels south each day, which would double Canada's exports.
GENETICS
Wales is set to be the first country to produce a DNA barcode for every one of its native flowering plants. The project will aim to catalogue all 1,143 species of native flowering plant based on each plant's unique gene sequence. This would mean that the tiniest fragment of grain or pollen grain could be used to identify any plant in Wales. As well as leading to a better understanding of plants' genetics, it will help biologists to track the status of pollinating insects, such as bees. The data could also be used to test the authenticity of Welsh products including honey.
HAZARDS
Massive floating islands of houses, cars, and even bodies, almost 70 miles in length from the Japanese tsunami are causing chaos in the shipping lanes of the Pacific Ocean as they head west to the coast of North America. Cars, tractors, boats and the occasional entire house have been spotted floating on the surface of the Pacific. The largest island of debris stretches 60 nautical miles in length and covers an expanse of more than 2.2-million square feet. Experts estimate it could take two years for the debris to reach Hawaii and three to get to the West Coast.
SYRUP
Villages in Quebec have created a Strategic Reserve of over 10-million kilograms of maple syrup. Producers are preparing for what they expect to be a banner year for exports to Asia due to surging demand from countries like Japan, China and South Korea. Those markets are increasingly important to the people who make maple syrup, mostly in Quebec, but also in Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The biggest market continues to be the U.S. but the country spent 15 per cent less on maple syrup and maple sugar in 2010 than it did the year before, dropping to US$143-million from $169-million.
AUSTRALIA
The twin natural disasters that hit Australia early this year will cost its economy around US$9.4-billion. This is a substantial increase on the earlier estimate of around $5.5-billion.The Australian states of Queensland and Victoria were hit by floods and a cyclone in January and February. The biggest effect will be on the coal industry with output down about a fifth. Lost coal production could cost the country about $6.0-billion while damage to crops is about $2-billion and the loss in tourist activity about $400-million.
BREAD
White bread, the mainstay of Britain's diet for decades, has fallen from favour for the first time as more consumers switch to brown bread. Industry sales figures indicate that sales of white bread fell one per cent last year while brown bread rose by six per cent and seeded bread products by nine per cent. For much of the last two centuries, brown bread has been considered an inferior product, eaten only by those who could not afford white bread. The white bread market in the UK is worth US$1.4-billion a year in sales while the brown bread market is worth $423-million.
CITATIONS
Science is becoming bigger and more global. Britain's Royal Society, the world's oldest scientific academy, states that emerging scientific nations are gaining influence, as measured by how often their researchers get cited in peer-reviewed journals. China and Spain with 4 per cent and three per cent of global citations respectively in 2004-2008, pushed Australia and Switzerland out of the top ten for the previous five years. The U.S. and Britain retain the most clout with 38 per cent of global citations, but this down from 45 per cent in the previous five years.
LOSSES
The recent U.S. census shows that Detroit is dying, having lost a quarter of its population, 273,500 people, from 2000 to 2010. After New Orleans, which lost 29 per cent of its population after Hurricane Katrina, Detroit's loss is the largest percentage drop in the history of an American city with more than 100,000 people. Just 10 years ago, Detroit was the tenth-largest city in the country. Up until 1950, during the auto boom, Detroit was the fourth biggest city in the U.S.
DRINKING
Whisky drinking has increased worldwide despite the global recession, or perhaps because of it. The Scotch Whisky Association reports 2010 was a record year with total shipments valued at US$5.37-billion, making it one of the U.K's top exporting industries. The U.S. is by far the largest market for whisky but exports to many regions, notably emerging markets, grew last year. Exports to Russia increased by 61 per cent last year; by 46 per cent to India and by 24 per cent to China. There has been a 60 per cent increase in global exports of Scotch whisky since 2000.
DAIRIES
Nearly half of China's 1,176 dairies are being shut down after failing to obtain new licences resulting from a government safety audit. The announcement comes as China tries to shore up its milk industry after the baby milk health scandal in 2008 when at least six babies died and another 300,000 were made ill by drinking infant formula tainted with melamine. Only 114 of 145 companies making milk powder have had their licences renewed.
CADMIUM
Effective January 1, 2012, it will be illegal to sell children's jewellery in the state of California that contains more than 0.003 per cent (300 parts per million) of cadmium. The new law applies to those that manufacture, ship, sell or offer jewellery for sale for children ages six years old or younger. Cadmium is alleged to cause delayed brain development, cancer, kidney problems and bone damage. Ironically, cadmium has been used as a replacement for lead to avoid these very issues.
SEAFOOD
The U.S imports 83 per cent of its seafood. These imports were worth US$14.2-billion in 2008 of which Canada earned a 22 per cent share. The lobster market was worth $1.1-billion with Canada supplying 67 per cent of the total. Restaurants in the U.S. are responsible for 70 per cent of seafood sales in the U.S. While Canada has the largest share of U.S. seafood imports, a trend towards cheaper seafood products has eroded that share in favour of China in recent years.
TRENDS
Thousands of shops in the UK are getting ready for the roll-out of a new technology which could allow shoppers to use cell phones to buy things. It's called Near Field Communications (NFC) technology and some of the biggest retailers think it is the wave of the future. One estimate suggests 40,000 businesses could be using it by the end of the year. The technology isn't new but it has never been tried on such a large scale. Cell phone operators and manufacturers, banks and retailers are all investing millions to make the technology a success.
PANAMA
Construction of the Panama Canal expansion, which will enable vessels twice the size to navigate the passage, will likely finish in 2014. The new canal will allow the world's largest ships, called post-Panamax vessels, which are up to 366 metres long and 49 metres wide, to use the passage. An expanded canal will have ripple effects for global trade , boosting activity for east coast U.S. ports and reducing it in the west, where unloaded cargo has to continue by rail to the east.
GROWTH
While many analysts are focused on opportunities in Brazil, Russia, India and China, the best of the US$300-trillion rise in the world GDP between now and 2050 will occur in a new set of emerging markets. For instance: Nigeria is forecast to have a 8.5 per cent growth in its GDP; Iraq, 7.7 per cent; Bangladesh, 7.5 per cent. Vietnam, 7.5 per cent and the Philippines, 7.3 per cent. The lowest growth will occur in Japan, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
CHLORINE
A budget-conscious council in Austria is asking swimmers to stop swallowing water to save money. They estimate bathers are drinking 5,000 litres of chlorinated water daily.
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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