NOVEMBER 1995 Edition
TRANSPORTATION
Intense pricing pressure, chronic excess capacity and
weak shipper demand are all contributing to problems for U.S. trucking
companies. The average truckload carrier--which typically moves shipments of
more than 10,000 pounds--is expected to show a 28 per cent decline in earning
for the third quarter of 1995. The average less-than-truckload, or LTL,
carrier--which hauls loads of less than 10,000 pounds--is expected to post a 40
per cent decline. Although a slower economy is a contributory factor, the carriers
seeing the biggest declines are the ones that have chosen to accelerate
capacity growth instead of curtailing it to bring supply more in line with
demand.
MINING
Representatives of the mining industry have told the
federal government that they are pushing mining investment out of the country
because of bureaucratic red tape. Until the early 1990s, investment averaged
around $800 million annually. This year it is expected to be $300 million. The
flight of capital results from too many overlapping and inconsistent
regulations, particularly in the area of the environment. The provinces and the
federal government each have their own sets of rules for how lands are to be
set aside for parks and conservation areas and their own requirements for
monitoring outflows of chemicals into the environment. In Latin America, where
governments are anxious to attract mining investment, a company will usually
meet the criteria to open a new mine in six months. In Canada, it could take
from five to ten years.
STRAW
It is estimated that over six million tonnes of straw is
available on the Prairie provinces to be converted into new uses. If a domestic
industry isn't developed soon, Canada may be importing crop residue fibre for
industrial uses in the near future. That six million tonnes could be producing
more than $1 billion in products. Also, it is estimated that there will be a
global shortfall of wood of over 10 billion tonnes by 2010. A straw industry
could greatly diminish this shortfall by reducing the number of trees harvested
for lumber.
REDUCING REVISITED
Recently, we reported on a rush by the Japanese to buy
soap from China which supposedly has reducing properties. In September, the
soap recorded sales of $32.4 million, double the sales in the first seven
months of 1995. The soap was invented by experts during three years of research
into traditional Chinese medicine and has been approved by the Ministry of
Health. A survey says it was successful in reducing weight in 76 per cent of
cases. It has yet to be explained how the soap works.
RETAILING
A new $400,000 study of Canadian retailing by the Ontario
Retail Sector Advisory Board is painting a bleak picture and warns that up to
half of existing companies could be out of business by the year 2000 if they
don't become more competitive. It points to lack of innovation, risk-taking,
skilled workers and other factors needed to meet the challenge of U.S.
competitors. Among factors cited that put Canadian retailers at a competitive
disadvantage to their U.S. counterparts are:
* Canadian stores are
less competitive and don't respond to new competitive pressures.
* Management structures
are too hierarchical.
* Canadian retailers do
less market and location research and are less likely to have advanced skills
in data and software use.
* They are less
innovative with almost all new formats, products and fashion trends emanating
from the U.S.
The report also points to
a historic lack of competition in Canada as one reason why many retailers can't
adjust to new U.S. rivals such as Home Depot and Wal-Mart Stores.
SIGNS
A survey of 7,000 people in six countries found that the
five linked rings of the Olympics were the most widely recognized logos--92 per
cent of those surveyed correctly identified the symbol. The survey was carried
out in Australia, Germany, India, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The McDonald's and Shell logos were recognized by 88 per cent and the Christian
cross by 54 per cent. Only 36 per cent identified the United Nations symbol.
MAIL ORDER
Mail order catalogue shopping is worth $2.5 billion
(U.S.) a year in Canada with purchases averaging $94 annually per capita
against $240 in the U.S. Canadians are more finicky than their southern
neighbours, wanting more than just low prices and superior quality when
purchasing from a catalogue. They also demand simple order forms, toll-free
numbers for ordering, delivery within three to four days and a variety of
payment options. However, Canadians reward mail order houses that meet their
demands. Response rates to catalogues and other direct mail in Canada register
between three and four percent, more than double the U.S rate. Experts forecast
that the Canadian business will reach the same level as the U.S by the end of
the decade making the market worth $6.6 billion (U.S.) annually.
INTERNET
The Swiss government's data protection commissioner has
warned Internet users that their data are not safe from manipulation on the
global computer network. The main complaint is that there are no standard
international or global rules for the protection of information that are
legally binding beyond national boundaries. Switzerland has the world's second
highest rate of personal computer ownership after the United States, and
200,000 Internet users in a population of seven million.
SUPERFUND
In 1996, the federal government is likely to launch a technology
superfund targeted at a handful of key export-oriented industries including
defence, aerospace, environment, biotechnology and parts of the computer
sector. Called the National Technology Investment Program, the fund could range
from $150 million to $500 million depending on how many sectors are folded into
the program. The fund will consist of repayable grants and be available to help
companies develop new products with export potential. Companies will pay back
the government from profits they earn once their products hit the market.
HOURS
U.S. industrial workers put in more hours than those in
any other industrialized country in 1994, with Japan second and Canada third.
Workers in the U.S put in 1,994 hours a year. In Japan they worked 1,964 hours
and in Canada 1,898 hours. German industrial labourers worked the fewest hours,
1,527 a year. The second lowest spot was shared between Belgium and Denmark
where workers put in 1,581 hours. For comparison this translates into a 38.3
hour work week in the U.S. industry and 29.3 hours a week in Germany. The
Canadian work week is 36.5 hours.
NEWSPAPERS
Daily newspaper readership in Canada has slipped by two
percentage points to 65 per cent of adults on any given weekday. The decline
appears to follow changes in average daily circulation which fell 3.3 per cent
this year. Among other things, circulation has been hurt by increases in cover
prices and labour disruptions in the professional hockey and baseball leagues.
Readership of weekend newspapers also fell two per cent to 73 per cent of
adults. Canadians spend 46 minutes on average reading a newspaper on a weekday.
BANK ROBBERIES
Canadian banks have the dubious distinction of being the
most robbed in the industrialized world according to the European Banking
Federation. The report found Canadian banks are targets more often because
thieves don't get away with much cash and have to go back for more. One out of
every six bank branches was held up last year but the average take was only
$2,900, the lowest among the countries surveyed. Banks in the U.S., where one
in seven branches was hit last year, were the second most frequently robbed
with the average amount taken being $14,500. European banks were robbed less
often--one in 21 branches--but the average take was $29,000. Luxembourg was the
highest with an average take of $365,000 while Switzerland averaged $200,000
per robbery.
MARKETS
Experts say that Canadian business is missing a
potentially lucrative market in the country's fastest growing ethnic group--1.1
million people of aboriginal origin. The federal government has estimated that
the aboriginal population will grow by 50 per cent from 1991 to 2016. More than
50 per cent of the population is now under the age of 25. Indian, Inuit and
Metis bands already control about 20 per cent of Canada's land and, depending
on the outcome of land claims, could end up with as much as 30 per cent by
2000. In 1969 there were 800 aboriginal people with postsecondary education, by
1991 the figure had climbed to 107,000.
BRIBES
According to a U.S. Department of Commerce report,
foreign companies have used bribes to edge out U.S. competitors on about $45
billion of international business deals. The report contains hundreds of
examples of bribery as well as legitimate, often government-assisted, export
promotions. The stakes for U.S. companies are huge with the report predicting
that over the next decade more than $1 trillion in overseas capital projects
will come up for bid. Based on the past, prospects for U.S. companies aren't
good. The report looked at 200 international deals over the past eight years
and found that U.S. firms lost about half partly because other countries were
more aggressive. The lost contracts would have meant about $25 billion in sales
and have added 200,000 jobs.
AUDIENCES
According to Statistics Canada, Canada's professional
performing arts companies saw audiences shrink in 1993-94. The study included
471 companies representing theatre, music, dance and opera. About 13.3 million
people attended a performance in Canada in 1993-94, down 2.2 per cent from
1992, 2.5 in 1991 and down 3 per cent from 1989-90. Only opera companies are
bucking the trend with a 2 per cent increase in audiences over the past 10
years.
However, performing arts
groups reported a collective income of $383.3 million with the majority coming
from earned revenues.
CITIES
In mid-1994, 2.5 billion people, 45 per cent of the
world's population, lived in urban areas, a proportion the UN expects to rise
to 61 per cent by 2025. A growing share of urbanites--13 per cent in 1970 but a
projected 18 per cent in 2015--live in cities of more than 5 million people. In
1950 only New York and London were mega-cities, with populations of eight
million or more. By 1970, five of the 11 mega-cities were in the developing
world and the UN predicts that by 2015, 21 of the 33 mega-cities will be in
Asia.
FRUIT
British Columbia produces 80 per cent of Canada's
cranberries which ranks as third largest producer in the world.
THE HEREAFTER
* Olay, A Turkish
newspaper in Gaziantep is offering a free grave to all readers who collect
99 daily coupons.
* The Lutheran Church in
Kalmar, Sweden, has applied for permission to link its on-site crematory to the
church's heating system.
* Fabrizio Caselli, a
Tuscan watchmaker, is offering Italians who fear premature burial a coffin that
includes a beeper, a two-way speaker and a survival kit.
* A Bulgarian
fortune-teller has wrecked her career. Aishe Akif of Dobrich was calling the
spirits on Friday the 13th, when her tape recorder chewed the tape and the
spirits went silent.
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