October 2014 Edition
SHIPPING
Size is considered a great advantage in the container-shipping industry. The largest of the colossal vessels that now move the metal boxes between the world’s ports are twice as big as those launched a decade ago. Such scale is not to everyone’s pleasing. In June, China’s antitrust regulators sank plans by the world’s three biggest container-shipping firms to form a vast alliance aimed at sharing space on board their vessels, say that such an alliance was not in the “social public interest.”. Of the 20 biggest container lines, 17 are breaking even or losing money. Container-ship operators say that by pooling resources they can offer more frequent service to more ports and that costs can be kept down by ensuring that ships put to sea with less empty space.
CHIPS
Scientists have produced a new computer chip that mimics the organization of the brain, and squeezed on one million computational units called neurons. They describe it as a super computer the size of a postage stamp. Each neuron on the chip connects to 256 others, and together they can pick out the key features in a visual scene in real time, using very little power.
GLUTEN
Now the “gluten-free” label on packaged goods has real meaning and should no longer confuse shoppers.. Until now, the terms was unregulated and manufacturers made their own decisions about what it meant. The new US requirement is especially important for people who suffer from celiac disease and don’t absorb nutrients well They can get sick from the gluten found in wheat and other cereal grains. An estimated 3-million Americans have this disease. Gluten-free foods have become big business in the last few years, topping an estimated US$4-billion in sales last year.
DIAPERS
Lining the pants of the world’s aging population is lining the pockets of Domtar Corp, the Montreal company best known for its pulp and paper products. The company has made five acquisitions of infant and adult diaper companies and the takeovers are paying off. Domtar’s diaper sales reached US$234-million in the second quarter of this year, a relatively small proportion of their overall business which generated $4.5-billion in sales in 50 countries in 2013. In a few years, the elderly will outnumber babies, growth that will drive increased sales of adult incontinence products.
BEES
Newfoundland’s healthy honeybees are an increasing draw for researchers in the race to understand why colonies across much of the globe are struggling or dying off. There are fewer and fewer places to look at around the world that can claim to be free from major bee pests and Newfoundland is one of them. Honeybees are crucial pollinators for fruit, vegetables and other crops. The Canadian Honey Council estimates that the bee population across the rest of Canada has dropped by about 35 per cent in the past three years. A new report shows that more than half of Ontario’s 100,000 colonies died off during the past winter.
HATS
Ecuador has been weaving hats since the 17th century. They became known as “Panamas” because that was the market to which they were primarily sold. By the 1840's Ecuadorean entrepreneurs were sending them to Panama in the tens of thousands. They fell out of favour in the second half of the 20th century but demand is now rising again. The country exported finished hats worth US$6-million in 2013, up from $517,000 in 2003. The headgear now goes primarily to Italy, Britain and the US where they can fetch anything from a few dollars to several thousand for the most intricate designs.
VENDING
From junk food and soda pop to organic snacks and digital payments, the vending machine industry is reinventing itself one treat at a time. Canadians are returning to the automated dispensers they ignored for several years. In the five years to 2018 the Canadian vending machine industry is expected to grow at an estimated annual rate of 1.9 per cent to about C$716-million, driven by products such as coffee, tea, juice and healthy snacks. To boost profits, operators are moving away from the soft carbonated drinks that had been a core industry product to varieties of waters and energy drinks.
E-COMMERCE
According to Statistics Canada, e-commerce sales by retailers reached C$7.7-billion in 2012, up from $6.6-billion in 2011. Retail e-commerce (+16.3%) grew at over five times the pace of overall growth in retail trade (2.9%). Retail e-commerce sales accounted for 1.5% of total retail sales in 2012. Retail e-commerce sales are defined as the purchase or commitment to purchase goods or services over the Internet. On a comparative basis, retail e-commerce sales in the United States accounted for 5.2% of its total retail sales in 2012.
NUDISTS
Tourism by American naturists generates more than US$440-million a year according to the American Association for nude recreation( AANR). Castaway Travel which arranges nudist cruises and other vacations saw business soar 20 per cent last year. Another nude-cruise firm which started in 1990 with a cruise for 36 people last year chartered a ship big enough to carry 3,000 to the Caribbean. There are more than 250 nudist and clothing-optional resorts and clubs across the US.
RESERVES
India’s foreign reserves have recently swollen past US$300-billion to a near record high,. But India’s import cover, the number of months of imports its reserves can pay for, has fallen from around 15 months in 2008 to 8.6 byJune of this year. Other BRIC countries (Brazil, China and Russia) have import cover of around 1.5 years and 2 years.. Russia’ import cover, though still a healthy 1.5 years has fallen from nearly 2.5 years in 2010.
FRIDGES
Refrigerators are a multi-billion -dollar industry in North America. In the US, sales are expected to grow by three per cent annually over the next three years, reaching a market value of US$14.4-billion by 2016. Fridge makers are keen to score a bigger piece of the market by introducing new gadgets and features of all kinds. The innovations hitting the market this year range from a special temperature-control system to a smart fridge that connects you to recipe website Epicurious. General Electric is introducing one with hot water for tea, soup and so on. The LG model runs an android operating system with a WiFi LCD screen and comes with a built-in app which tracks what’s inside and how long its been around.
TECHNOLOGY
A new British report has found that most people hit their peak confidence and understanding of technology when they are just 15. This drops gradually up until their late 50s and then falls rapidly from 60 and beyond. In fact, six-year-olds have the same level of understanding of modern technology as 45-year-olds.. The study also showed that most British adults are still clinging to older forms of physical media such as books, CDs and DVDs despite the growth in digital music, films and devices. Almost 90 per cent of 45- to 54-year-olds own a CD collection and the average 55- to 64-year-olds owns 118 books.
FISH
Restrictions on cod and salmon fishing aimed to rejuvenate falling stocks in the Irish Sea and inland waterways do not appear to have halted the decline. After years of light quotas from the EU in Brussels and strict angling controls, there have been no population boost in the two species as scientists expected. They are now looking at other explanations because there is little more the fishing industry can do to reduce their catch of cod in the Irish Sea. The temperature of the Irish Sea has been increasing over the past four decades and cod, originally an Arctic species, are now at the southern limit of their range with respect to tolerating temperature.
HOVERING
When it comes to flight, nature just has the edge on engineers. This is according to a study comparing hummingbirds with one of the world’s most advanced micro-helicopters. Researchers found that in terms of power they require to lift their weight, the best hummingbird was over 20 per cent more efficient than the helicopter.
REMITTANCES
Money from immigrants and migrant workers in Canada sent to family or for investments back home is a booming business. Remittance centres are the unassuming face of a globalized money transfer industry that has tripled in value in a decade–to $529-billion a year according to the World Bank. The amount of money that leaves Canada was C$24-billion in 2012, a sum that is equivalent to the annual budgets of 12 Universities of British Colombia. The top countries receiving Canadian remittances are China (which received $3.9-billion) , (India $3.5-billion) and the Philippines ($2-billion). After these three, the countries receiving the most Canadian remittances are Britain, France, Lebanon, Vietnam, Germany, Italy and South Korea.
CATTLE
A new study suggests that the production of beef is around 10 times more damaging to the environment than any other form of livestock. Scientists measured the environment inputs required to produce the main US sources of protein. Beef cattle need 28 times more land and 11 times more irrigation water than pork, poultry, eggs or dairy. The scientists used data from 2000-2010 from the US Department of Agriculture to calculate the amount of resources required for all the feed consumed by edible livestock. Other researchers say the conclusions of the new study are applicable in Europe even though the work is based on US data.
PLASMA
Samsung is to stop producing plasma televisions by the end of November. It has said that falling demand means it will instead focus on producing curved and ultra-high-definition TVs. Panasonic, Sony, Hitachi and Pioneer have also pulled out of the sector in recent years and LG is expected to follow soon. Plasma screens, which use electrically charged ionised gasses, are often applauded for their brightness and deep blacks considered ideal for watching sports and films.
HAGGIS
The UK government is making a fresh bid to overturn a US import ban on traditional Scottish haggis which has been outlawed in the US since 1971. The ban was put in place because the country’s food standards agency prohibits sheep lungs, one of the key ingredients in haggis, in food products. Scottish beef is set to make a return to menus in America for the first time in almost 20 years. This follows a move by officials to reopen the US market to EU beef and other bovine products, following a ban put in place in the 1990s over concerns that Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) could infect the human food chain.
POWER
Rising power demand from “smart” TVs, game consoles and other network devices are driving up global electricity consumption, leading to calls for greater regulation of the booming electronics industry. Such devices consumed more than 600 terawatt hours of electricity worldwide in 2013, equivalent to the output of 200 medium-size coal-fired power plants. And three times more than they would need if their manufacturers used best-available energy-saving technology. Electricity usage from such electronics is climbing at a rate of six per cent per year, twice the increase in overall global power consumption.
SUPPORT
A struggling Korean baseball team which in the past five years has sustained more than 400 losses has invented a novel way to improve the atmosphere at their matches, by bringing in a crowd of robot fans. The robots can cheer, chant and perform a Mexican wave.
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
Size is considered a great advantage in the container-shipping industry. The largest of the colossal vessels that now move the metal boxes between the world’s ports are twice as big as those launched a decade ago. Such scale is not to everyone’s pleasing. In June, China’s antitrust regulators sank plans by the world’s three biggest container-shipping firms to form a vast alliance aimed at sharing space on board their vessels, say that such an alliance was not in the “social public interest.”. Of the 20 biggest container lines, 17 are breaking even or losing money. Container-ship operators say that by pooling resources they can offer more frequent service to more ports and that costs can be kept down by ensuring that ships put to sea with less empty space.
CHIPS
Scientists have produced a new computer chip that mimics the organization of the brain, and squeezed on one million computational units called neurons. They describe it as a super computer the size of a postage stamp. Each neuron on the chip connects to 256 others, and together they can pick out the key features in a visual scene in real time, using very little power.
GLUTEN
Now the “gluten-free” label on packaged goods has real meaning and should no longer confuse shoppers.. Until now, the terms was unregulated and manufacturers made their own decisions about what it meant. The new US requirement is especially important for people who suffer from celiac disease and don’t absorb nutrients well They can get sick from the gluten found in wheat and other cereal grains. An estimated 3-million Americans have this disease. Gluten-free foods have become big business in the last few years, topping an estimated US$4-billion in sales last year.
DIAPERS
Lining the pants of the world’s aging population is lining the pockets of Domtar Corp, the Montreal company best known for its pulp and paper products. The company has made five acquisitions of infant and adult diaper companies and the takeovers are paying off. Domtar’s diaper sales reached US$234-million in the second quarter of this year, a relatively small proportion of their overall business which generated $4.5-billion in sales in 50 countries in 2013. In a few years, the elderly will outnumber babies, growth that will drive increased sales of adult incontinence products.
BEES
Newfoundland’s healthy honeybees are an increasing draw for researchers in the race to understand why colonies across much of the globe are struggling or dying off. There are fewer and fewer places to look at around the world that can claim to be free from major bee pests and Newfoundland is one of them. Honeybees are crucial pollinators for fruit, vegetables and other crops. The Canadian Honey Council estimates that the bee population across the rest of Canada has dropped by about 35 per cent in the past three years. A new report shows that more than half of Ontario’s 100,000 colonies died off during the past winter.
HATS
Ecuador has been weaving hats since the 17th century. They became known as “Panamas” because that was the market to which they were primarily sold. By the 1840's Ecuadorean entrepreneurs were sending them to Panama in the tens of thousands. They fell out of favour in the second half of the 20th century but demand is now rising again. The country exported finished hats worth US$6-million in 2013, up from $517,000 in 2003. The headgear now goes primarily to Italy, Britain and the US where they can fetch anything from a few dollars to several thousand for the most intricate designs.
VENDING
From junk food and soda pop to organic snacks and digital payments, the vending machine industry is reinventing itself one treat at a time. Canadians are returning to the automated dispensers they ignored for several years. In the five years to 2018 the Canadian vending machine industry is expected to grow at an estimated annual rate of 1.9 per cent to about C$716-million, driven by products such as coffee, tea, juice and healthy snacks. To boost profits, operators are moving away from the soft carbonated drinks that had been a core industry product to varieties of waters and energy drinks.
E-COMMERCE
According to Statistics Canada, e-commerce sales by retailers reached C$7.7-billion in 2012, up from $6.6-billion in 2011. Retail e-commerce (+16.3%) grew at over five times the pace of overall growth in retail trade (2.9%). Retail e-commerce sales accounted for 1.5% of total retail sales in 2012. Retail e-commerce sales are defined as the purchase or commitment to purchase goods or services over the Internet. On a comparative basis, retail e-commerce sales in the United States accounted for 5.2% of its total retail sales in 2012.
NUDISTS
Tourism by American naturists generates more than US$440-million a year according to the American Association for nude recreation( AANR). Castaway Travel which arranges nudist cruises and other vacations saw business soar 20 per cent last year. Another nude-cruise firm which started in 1990 with a cruise for 36 people last year chartered a ship big enough to carry 3,000 to the Caribbean. There are more than 250 nudist and clothing-optional resorts and clubs across the US.
RESERVES
India’s foreign reserves have recently swollen past US$300-billion to a near record high,. But India’s import cover, the number of months of imports its reserves can pay for, has fallen from around 15 months in 2008 to 8.6 byJune of this year. Other BRIC countries (Brazil, China and Russia) have import cover of around 1.5 years and 2 years.. Russia’ import cover, though still a healthy 1.5 years has fallen from nearly 2.5 years in 2010.
FRIDGES
Refrigerators are a multi-billion -dollar industry in North America. In the US, sales are expected to grow by three per cent annually over the next three years, reaching a market value of US$14.4-billion by 2016. Fridge makers are keen to score a bigger piece of the market by introducing new gadgets and features of all kinds. The innovations hitting the market this year range from a special temperature-control system to a smart fridge that connects you to recipe website Epicurious. General Electric is introducing one with hot water for tea, soup and so on. The LG model runs an android operating system with a WiFi LCD screen and comes with a built-in app which tracks what’s inside and how long its been around.
TECHNOLOGY
A new British report has found that most people hit their peak confidence and understanding of technology when they are just 15. This drops gradually up until their late 50s and then falls rapidly from 60 and beyond. In fact, six-year-olds have the same level of understanding of modern technology as 45-year-olds.. The study also showed that most British adults are still clinging to older forms of physical media such as books, CDs and DVDs despite the growth in digital music, films and devices. Almost 90 per cent of 45- to 54-year-olds own a CD collection and the average 55- to 64-year-olds owns 118 books.
FISH
Restrictions on cod and salmon fishing aimed to rejuvenate falling stocks in the Irish Sea and inland waterways do not appear to have halted the decline. After years of light quotas from the EU in Brussels and strict angling controls, there have been no population boost in the two species as scientists expected. They are now looking at other explanations because there is little more the fishing industry can do to reduce their catch of cod in the Irish Sea. The temperature of the Irish Sea has been increasing over the past four decades and cod, originally an Arctic species, are now at the southern limit of their range with respect to tolerating temperature.
HOVERING
When it comes to flight, nature just has the edge on engineers. This is according to a study comparing hummingbirds with one of the world’s most advanced micro-helicopters. Researchers found that in terms of power they require to lift their weight, the best hummingbird was over 20 per cent more efficient than the helicopter.
REMITTANCES
Money from immigrants and migrant workers in Canada sent to family or for investments back home is a booming business. Remittance centres are the unassuming face of a globalized money transfer industry that has tripled in value in a decade–to $529-billion a year according to the World Bank. The amount of money that leaves Canada was C$24-billion in 2012, a sum that is equivalent to the annual budgets of 12 Universities of British Colombia. The top countries receiving Canadian remittances are China (which received $3.9-billion) , (India $3.5-billion) and the Philippines ($2-billion). After these three, the countries receiving the most Canadian remittances are Britain, France, Lebanon, Vietnam, Germany, Italy and South Korea.
CATTLE
A new study suggests that the production of beef is around 10 times more damaging to the environment than any other form of livestock. Scientists measured the environment inputs required to produce the main US sources of protein. Beef cattle need 28 times more land and 11 times more irrigation water than pork, poultry, eggs or dairy. The scientists used data from 2000-2010 from the US Department of Agriculture to calculate the amount of resources required for all the feed consumed by edible livestock. Other researchers say the conclusions of the new study are applicable in Europe even though the work is based on US data.
PLASMA
Samsung is to stop producing plasma televisions by the end of November. It has said that falling demand means it will instead focus on producing curved and ultra-high-definition TVs. Panasonic, Sony, Hitachi and Pioneer have also pulled out of the sector in recent years and LG is expected to follow soon. Plasma screens, which use electrically charged ionised gasses, are often applauded for their brightness and deep blacks considered ideal for watching sports and films.
HAGGIS
The UK government is making a fresh bid to overturn a US import ban on traditional Scottish haggis which has been outlawed in the US since 1971. The ban was put in place because the country’s food standards agency prohibits sheep lungs, one of the key ingredients in haggis, in food products. Scottish beef is set to make a return to menus in America for the first time in almost 20 years. This follows a move by officials to reopen the US market to EU beef and other bovine products, following a ban put in place in the 1990s over concerns that Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) could infect the human food chain.
POWER
Rising power demand from “smart” TVs, game consoles and other network devices are driving up global electricity consumption, leading to calls for greater regulation of the booming electronics industry. Such devices consumed more than 600 terawatt hours of electricity worldwide in 2013, equivalent to the output of 200 medium-size coal-fired power plants. And three times more than they would need if their manufacturers used best-available energy-saving technology. Electricity usage from such electronics is climbing at a rate of six per cent per year, twice the increase in overall global power consumption.
SUPPORT
A struggling Korean baseball team which in the past five years has sustained more than 400 losses has invented a novel way to improve the atmosphere at their matches, by bringing in a crowd of robot fans. The robots can cheer, chant and perform a Mexican wave.
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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