June 2012 Edition
CITRUS
California's US$2-billion citrus industry is bracing for the spread of a crop-killing disease after an infected tree was discovered in the yard of a suburban Los Angeles home. The bacterial disease attacks the vascular system of citrus trees and clogs the flow of nutrients which prevent fruit from fully forming and makes it bitter. The disease is spread by an insect. There are 300,000 acres of citrus groves in California.
CALLING
Every day, more than a million North Americans dial corporate customer service numbers to complain, to inquire, to activate accounts, to order products or to seek help. Many of those calls go to the Philippines where there are plenty of well-educated young workers who speak "American-style" English. Last year, the Philippines overtook India as the call centre of the world. It now employs over 640,000 workers and generated US$11-billion in revenue in 2011, a figure that is expected to rise to $15-billion by 2016 when it will employ 1.1-million Filipinos.
FABRIC
British soldiers' uniforms could soon use electrically conducting yarns woven directly into the clothing, replacing cumbersome batteries and cabling. The "e-textiles" could provide uniforms with a single, central power source. This would allow soldiers to recharge one battery instead of many and cut the number of cables in their kit. Currently, separate batteries may be required for each piece of a soldier's equipment, which adds to their carrying load as well as being costly, which is one reason why a centralised battery pack is so desirable. This fabric could also have important civilian applications.
EELS
Tiny translucent elvers--alien-looking baby eels the size of toothpicks, with big black eyes and spines--are mysterious creatures floating thousands of kilometres from their birthplace in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean before ending up each spring in Maine's rivers and streams. Thousands of fishermen flock to catch the creatures during the two-month fishing season. There is a worldwide shortage of the prized dinner fare imported in infancy from Maine to Asia to be raised in farm ponds. This year the price of the baby eels has skyrocketed to US$2,000 a pound.
MAGAZINES
Single-copy sales of magazines in Canada declined by seven per cent last year, with retail sales of C$518-million. But a recent poll shows that 71 per cent of readers overwhelmingly prefer printed magazines against nine per cent who prefer digital copies although those who do buy digital editions are nearly twice as likely as the average reader to buy additional printed magazines in any given month. Six per cent of Canadians buy a magazine once a week, 51 per cent buying for current affairs and 27 for celebrity news.
CASH
Companies worldwide are sitting on cash, generating cash, and have the capacity to borrow yet more, but where will it all go? Hopefully into the economy but more likely into mergers and acquisitions and buybacks. Apple's US$98-billion pile is emblematic of a growing corporate cash mountain. As of last December, 1,100 non-financial U.S. corporations rated by Moody's, were sitting on record cash balances of $1.24-trillion and their 360-strong universe of large European non-financial corporations were sitting on $872-billion.
BAGGAGE
Last year, British travellers were charged a total of US$296-million for excess baggage. On average, limits were exceeded by 3.5 kilos (about 7.7lb). Around 27 per cent of those surveyed who are due to fly this summer expect to exceed baggage limits and these charges are likely to total about $1.58-million a day. Of those who faced charges in 2011, 37 per cent were travelling on low-cost airlines and 20 per cent on charter flights.
CUBA
In a bid to boost tourism, the government is planning to build 13 golf courses by 2020 to offer more to the 2.7-million people who visit each year. The country also intends to build several theme parks and add 25,000 hotel rooms as it looks to broaden its image. Tourism has become the island's main source of foreign currency since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s cut off economic subsidies.
COINS
This fall, the Royal Canadian Mint will cease distributing pennies, although one-cent coins will remain legal tender indefinitely. First struck in 1908, pennies were made of copper until 1996, when rising costs of the metal sparked a switch to a mainly-steel composition. The penny is the only circulated coin that costs more to make than its face value and it now costs the government C$11-million to provide the pennies. The largest annual penny mintage was in 2006 when 1.26-billion were struck.
OIL
Exxon Mobil is no longer the world's biggest publicly traded producer of oil. For the first time, that distinction belongs to a 13-year-old Chinese company called PetroChina which was created by the government to secure more oil for the nation's booming economy. Last year, PetroChina pumped 2.4-million barrels a day, surpassing Exxon by 100,000 barrels. The company has grown rapidly over the past decade by squeezing more from China's aging oil fields and outspending Western companies to acquire more petroleum reserves in places like Canada, Iraq and Qatar.
TOILETS
A robotic toilet called the Numi, which retails for US$6,400 and is a huge hit in China is helping to make Kohler Co. a net exporter of its American-made plumbing products. The Numi uses motion detectors and a remote control to open and close its seat and to flush. It also features leg-warming porcelain, a built-in stereo system and three bidet settings. All of its porcelain is made in Kohler's century-old Wisconsin factory, but most of the toilets are sold to Chinese buyers, with demand so strong that the Numi is on back order.
SHIPPING
Shipyards have been turning out new vessels at a pace designed to service global demand that has failed to materialize, meaning the industry is now sinking under massive over capacity. As owners have seen the rates charged to carry freight plunge, demand for their ships has collapsed to the point that selling them for scrap makes financial sense much earlier in a vessel's life. Cargo ships as a general rule are built to sail for 25 years, yet in the VLCC, "very-large-crude-carrier" sector, comprising the world's biggest tankers, scrap and resale prices recently reached parity for the average 15 year old ship.
TRADE
Canada and Japan have announced free-trade negotiations which are expected to be long and difficult if Canada aims to reduce the complex web of non-tariff barriers that pose serious hurdles for foreign companies trying to compete in Japan. Two-way trade between the countries stood at C$22.6-billion in 2010 but a new treaty could boost Canada's exports there by 60 per cent. Canada now ships mainly agricultural products and resources to the world's third largest economy and 76 per cent of imports came in autos and auto parts, machinery and equipment, electronics and electrical equipment.
CANOLA
Canada's canola crushers are processing the oilseed at a record pace as demand for canola oil heats up among U.S. makers of biodiesel and food products such as potato chips. Canadian canola processors crushed nearly 4.6-million tonnes of seed in 2011-2012, well ahead of the previous year's pace which ended with a record 6.3-million tonnes crushed. Much of the oil has headed south as Canada exported nearly 770,000 tonnes of oil to the U.S. from last August through January, up by almost one-third over the previous year's record high.
COAL
U.S. coal exports reached their highest level in two decades last year as strong demand from Asia and Europe offered an outlet for a fuel that is falling from favour at home. Coal exports topped 107-million tonnes of fuel worth almost US$16-billion in 2011, the highest level since 1991 and more than double the export volume from 2006. Coal exports to South Korea leapt 81 per cent to more than 10-million tonnes and exports to India saw an increase of 65 per cent, or 4.5-million tonnes.
BIRDS
A recent study concluded by a British ornithological charity has concluded that many bird species are unaffected by wind farms. In fact scientists found that building the turbines was more disruptive than operating them. Ten species of birds and 18 wind farms in upland areas of the UK were studied and most were monitored before construction began, during construction and again afterwards.
ENERGY
The U.S. has regained top spot from China as the biggest investor in clean energy in 2011. The U.S. invested US$48-billion up from $34-billion in 2010. China slipped to second place with investment increasing by only $0.5-billion to $45.5-billion. Third was Germany followed by Italy and the rest of the EU-27. India was next with the UK in seventh place.
TRENDS
Some wealthy U.S. households are choosing to forgo health insurance in favour of paying a monthly fee, totalling up to US$30,000 a year, for concierge medicine, or the ability to have access to their physicians anywhere any time. Some families even have emergency rooms in their own homes which can cost $1-million.
IRAN
The destination of Iran's oil sales is being concealed by the disabling of tracking systems, making it difficult to assess how much crude oil Teheran is exporting as it seeks to counter Western sanctions. Most of Iran's 39-strong fleet of tankers is now "off-radar" after the government ordered the ships to turn off the black-box transponders, used in the industry to monitor ship vessel movements.
FLYING
More passengers are downloading books, sending Tweets and updating their Facebook pages in the middle of a flight, even as they complain about the price of doing so. About 1,700 planes in the U.S. now have Intenet access. Airlines say the WIFi usage is picking up, driven partly by the popularity of tablet computers and partly because more planes have the service. Currently about eight per cent of passengers use the service, up from four per cent at the end of 2010.
TOURISM
A record 62-million foreigners visited the United States in 2011 spending US$153-billion on travel and tourism-related services. The Commerce Department reports that spending by domestic as well as international tourists grew 8.1 per cent from a year earlier to $1.2-trillion. This supported an additional 103,000 jobs for a total of 7.6-million. 21-million Canadian residents crossed the border into the U.S. last year.
JUICE
Starbucks has opened its first store in its new Evolution Fresh juice bar chain, its biggest move outside coffee and one it hopes will boost the company's position in the US$50-billion health food sector. Starbucks has yet to detail how many juice bars it plans to open. It will sell fresh and bottled fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies and food, such as wraps, salads and soups. The menu will include vegan and vegetarian options.
SPENDING
The region of Durham, Ont, threw a C$75,000 party to celebrate a new garbage incinerator, complete with air-conditioned tents and sushi.
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