October 2010 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

October 2010 Edition

WEALTH

A recent survey estimates that the net wealth of Asian millionaires has eclipsed that of rich Europeans for the first time, largely because of the relative health of stock markets in Hong Kong, India and China last year. At the end of last year there were 3-million millionaires in both the Asia-Pacific and Europe. The wealth was quantified as US$9,700-billion in Asia against $9,500-billion in Europe. Millionaires in this survey were defined as people with net financial wealth of more than one million, excluding their primary residence. North Americans are still the best-off with 3.1-million millionaires worth $10,700-billion.

CATTLE

Only 94 of Britain's roughly 13,500 dairy farms currently raise more than 500 cows. Next year, it is planned to open the first mega-dairy based on the American Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). The farm will be home to about 8,100 cows producing about a quarter million litres of milk each day. A concern is that CAFOs dump more waste than the land can cope with. Also, a Johns Hopkins University study on Industrial Farm Animal Production found evidence that those living near such farms suffered from asthma and other respiratory complaints.

TRANSPORTATION

Because of the U.S. government's failure to restore a program allowing Mexican trucks to operate north of the border, Mexican authorities have threatened to impose import tariffs on selected U.S. products. The products are to include pork and oranges as well as grapefruit, pistachios, chewing gum, cheese and ketchup. Mexico is waiting for the U.S. to propose a resolution to the standoff, which started when the U.S. Congress ended a pilot program allowing Mexican trucks to deliver goods in the U.S.

SHEEP

New Zealand's sheep farmers are flocking to a government carbon trading program that pays more to plant trees than sell wool and mutton. The system, the only one of its kind outside Europe, awards farmers credits that are sold to offset greenhouse emissions. The project can earn them about US$172 per acre on land unprofitable for grazing animals. Sheep have been in decline for decades in New Zealand falling from a high of about 70-million in 1982 to about 40-million currently. Since 1990, 28 per cent of land used for grazing sheep and beef has switched use.

TECHNOLOGY

It looks like an iPad, but it is only 1/14th the cost. India has unveiled the prototype of a US$35 basic touch screen tablet aimed at students which it hopes to bring into production by 2011. If the government can find a manufacturer, this will be the latest in a string of "world's cheapest" innovations from India, including the $2,127 Nano car, the $16 water purifier and the $2,000 open-heart surgery. The tablet, which has a solar power option, can be used for word processing, web browsing and video-conferencing.

TRENDS

Doctors at three health centres in Massachusetts have begun advising patients to eat "prescription produce" from local farmers markets in an effort to fight obesity in children of low-income families. Now they will give coupons amounting to $1.00 a day for each member of a patient's family to promote healthy meals. The goal is to get them to increase their consumption of fruit and vegetables by one serving a day.

ECONOMIES

China is getting closer to surpassing Japan as the world's second-largest economy, an unprecedented position for a still-developing country. In 2009, the world's largest economy was the U.S. with a GDP of $14.26-trillion. This was followed by Japan at $5.07-trillion and China at $4.91-trillion. Next were Germany, $3.35-trillion, France with $2.68-trillion and Britain with $2.18-trillion. Canada's GDP was $1.34-trillion.

VEHICLES

Today, a growing number of U.S. men are registered owners of cars (59 per cent up from 51 per cent four years earlier), while there are fewer female owners (41 per cent down from 49 per cent). Marketers often assume that women drive 80 per cent of auto purchasing decisions when, in fact, they are involved in only 65 per cent of them on average. Canadian Tire Corp is rushing to bolster business by returning to its roots as a man's store. It is more prominently displaying its auto-related departments after years of adding more picture frames, candles and other home decor products to lure women.

CAMERAS

The world's first 3D camera and printing service has been launched without the need for special glasses. Fujifilm's camera takes two photos simultaneously from its two lenses which are fixed a similar distance apart to human eyes. Using "lenticular" technology, the separate left and right eye images are interlaced on a furrowed surface to create the stereoscopic illusion. The new camera also incorporates a high definition 3D video camera, allowing users to watch their home movies back on any 3D TV.

SIZE

According to the latest World Investment Report, General Electric holds foreign assets worth US$401-billion, more than any non-financial firm. The American conglomerate has half of its assets abroad. For Vodaphone, a UK telecoms company and ArcelorMittal, a Luxembourg-based steel maker, the share of foreign assets is more than 90 per cent. Six of the ten biggest transnational corporations by foreign assets are from the oil or power industries. Exxon Mobil has the largest foreign sales of $322-billion. Toyota, the world's biggest car maker was the only Asian firm among the top 12.

GLASS

An ultra-strong glass that has been looking for a purpose since its invention in 1962 is poised to become a multibillion-dollar bonanza for Corning Inc. The company is ramping up production of what it calls Gorilla glass, expected to be the hot new face of touch-screen tablets and high-end TVs. Gorilla is very hard to break, dent or scratch and is two to three times stronger than chemically strengthened versions of ordinary soda-lime glass. Gorilla can also be thinner than a dime, saving on weight and shipping costs.

PURCHASING

According to recent U.S. government data, Americans are spending more on electronics like iPads and flat-screen televisions and less on durable goods like furniture, washing machines and lawn mowers. The shift reflects a change in priorities for American consumers. After pouring money into all aspects of their homes during the previous decade, consumers are redirecting their purchases to eye-grabbing technology and putting more of what is left over into savings.

GIVING

Nearly 40 ultra-wealthy individuals and families have pledged to give away half or more of their fortunes to charity. This in answer to a challenge issued by famed investor Warren Buffet and Microsoft founder Bill Gates earlier in the year. The first group of people to commit to the initiative includes technology titans and media moguls, financiers and tycoons, new money and old. If all of the 400-odd billionaires in the U.S. made the same vow, more than US$600-billion would be directed to good works.

RICE

Global warming is cutting rice yields in many parts of Asia. Yields have fallen by 10 to 20 per cent over the last 25 years in some locations. A group of mainly U.S.-based scientists studied records from 227 farms in six important rice-producing countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, India and China. This is the latest in a line of studies to suggest that climate change will make it harder to feed the world's growing population by cutting yields.

ALLERGIES

Food allergies and sensitivities are a serious and growing problem in developed countries. Experts estimate that as many as 60-million people in the U.S. are affected, either with a personal condition or through a family member and that number is increasing every year. A recent survey showed that allergies and sensitivities often affect more than one person in a household, with 45 per cent of respondents having two or more allergy sufferers in a single household, while 20 per cent have three or more sufferers.

EXPORTS

Last year, iron ore and coal alone accounted for nearly C$1.6-billion in Canadian exports to China. This represented $1-billion more than in 2008. Industry Canada statistics suggest considerable growth in 15 of Canada's top 25 export industries to China, with the largest increases in oilseed, iron ore and coal. Those three exports alone rose to nearly $3-billion in 2009 over the previous year's total of $1.3-billion. When compared with stats for Canada's exports to the U.S. the numbers show that only one of the top 25 Canadian exports to the U.S. increased in that same period and that was pharmaceutical.

FOOD

Imports of organic food products into the European Union are likely to increase sharply as demand outstrips domestic supply. Retail spending on organic foods averaged a total of US$18.69-billion in 2006 and 2007. More than 80 per cent of total retail spending was concentrated in four EU countries: Germany, Britain, France and Italy. In terms of production, organic farming accounted for 4.3 per cent of the EU's total agricultural area in 2008 at 7.7-million hectares.

PIRACY

The number of pirate attacks dropped during the first half of the year, thanks to the actions of the world's navies and vessel operators. According to the International Maritime Bureau, there were 196 pirate incidents during the first six months of 2010, compared with 240 incidents in 2009. They included 31 vessel highjackings, 48 ships being fired on and 70 boarded, with one crew member killed and 597 taken hostage. The coast of Somalia is the worst-hit area, with 100 pirate attacks.

UNDERDOGS

Apple, certainly no longer an underdog with US$222-billion in market capitalization, routinely depicts itself as the embattled and cooler No. 2 to Microsoft, though it is in fact now No. 1.

ART

A year and a half after art prices plunged, the world's chief auction houses have recovered much of their momentum. In the U.S., Christie's art sales rebounded 110 per cent to $999.6 compared to last year. Christie's International sold US$2.57-billion of fine and decorative art in the first half of the year, up 43 per cent from a year earlier. Rival Sotheby's auctioned $2.2-billion in the first half, more than double a year ago. Long-time collectors in the U.S. and Europe are still seeking potential bargains but are facing tougher competition from new Asian bidders.

RIVERS

Massive underwater rivers that flow along the bottom of oceans have been discovered. Researchers working in the Black Sea have found currents of water 350 times greater than the River Thames flowing along the sea bed, carving out channels much like a river on land. The undersea river, which is up to 115 feet deep in places, even has rapids and waterfalls, much like its terrestrial equivalents. If found on land, scientists estimate it would be the world's sixth largest river in terms of the amount of water flowing through it.

PRODUCTION

Performing Shakespeare to cows helps them produce more milk. An English theatre group has discovered that renditions of the Bard's prose were found to "relax" dairy herds and boosted production by four per cent. The actors selected scenes from the Merry Wives of Windsor for their audience of Friesians.

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

September 2010 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

September 2010 Edition

MARKETS

According to a U.S. rating agency, America's stockmarkets, with a total market capitalization of US$15.1-trillion at the end of last year, were the world's largest. They were also the world's most active, with shares worth nearly $47-trillion, triple the market capitalization, changing hands during the year. Among emerging markets, only China's make the top ten either by market capitalization or value traded. The number of domestic companies listed on Indian exchanges is the largest in the world.

OUTSOURCING

After years of whittling staff and cutting back services, U.S. cities and towns are now outsourcing some of the most basic functions of local government, from policing to trash collection. Services that cities can no longer provide are being contracted to private vendors, counties, or even neighbouring towns. Maywood, a small California town of 40,000 is letting go of its entire staff and contracting with outsiders to perform all city services. The city is disbanding its police force and handing public safety over to the Los Angeles County Sheriff.

BROADBAND

Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband a legal right for every citizen. As of last July, every Finn has the right to have access to a 1Mpbs (megabit per second) broadband connection, meaning all telecommunication companies are obliged to provide all residents with broadband lines that can run at this minimum speed. The country has vowed to connect everyone to a 100 Mbps connection by 2015.

LABOUR

As economies across the developed world fell into recession, legal permanent immigration to the mostly rich members of the OECD declined by 6 per cent after five years during which growth averaged 11 per cent. Despite the slowdown in the arrival of new immigrants, the number of foreign-born workers in most OECD countries rose in 2008 from a year earlier. In 2007, one in every four workers in Australia was born abroad; in 2008 that share rose to 26.5 per cent. Among OECD countries for which data is available, the share of the foreign-born fell only in Luxembourg, Austria Belgium and France. The number in America rose by 308,000 in 2008, to 25.1-million.

MILK

European grocery shelves may soon be stocked by milk from camels. Promoters from the United Arab Emirates say the milk is very healthy. People with lactose intolerance can drink it, unlike cow's milk: it doesn't contain protein allergies and it is high in insulin. Similar in taste and appearance to cow's milk, camel milk is closer in composition to human milk. The European Union is sending a panel to inspect the UAE's two dairy farms. By next year, the milk may be exported to the U.S. and Canada, as well as China and Hong Kong. It is likely to cost at least US$1.50 more per litre than regular milk.

FLOODING

Heavy rains have washed away two million seeded acres in Western Canada this summer, lowering the yearly total 10-million below the five year average. The maximum estimated total seed acreage in Western Canada is 52-million. Farmers typically spend C$70- $110.00 per acre depending on types of crops grown and the areas in which they are seeded. Industry sales are expected to decline by 17 per cent this year. The average annual value of Western Canadian agri-products is around $4.6-billion.

OPIUM

According to the U.N Office of Drugs, The global production of opium declined from 8,890 tonnes in 2007 to 7,750 tonnes last year. Most opium, which is derived from poppies, is converted into heroin. Two-thirds of the balance is used in just five countries: Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Russia, Nearly nine-tenths of the world's poppy cultivation takes place in Afghanistan, though significant amounts come from Mexico, Myanmar and Colombia. Afghan production has declined for each of the past two years.

CONSCRIPTION

If a young person refuses to undertake military conscription in Germany, they are obliged to spend nine months in community service instead. This may mean anything from delivering hot meals to pensioners or reading to elderly in old-age homes. Some 90,000 a year man hospitals, sports clubs and kindergartens across Germany. These people are not supposed to replace regular workers but they provide useful, and for some people, vital extra services. However, the government has decided to shorten basic military service and may eliminate it altogether. This could have a significant effect on the number of young people available to help many German charities.

WORTH

The Economist reports that in 2009, the world was home to 10-million people who had at least US$1-million to invest. Between them, such people had a total of $39-trillion in investible assets. America is home to 2.9-million very wealthy people, over a quarter of the world's total. Although it had only 127,000 high-net-worth individuals in 2009, India saw the number of such people grow by 50 per cent last year alone. Among the countries studied, the chances of running into a very wealthy person are highest in Switzerland, where 30 out of 1,000 people make the cut.

WASTE

A new study indicates that Americans are wasting billions by tossing food mistakenly believed to be spoiled. 76 per cent of U.S consumers studied, believe certain foods are unsafe to eat after the date printed on the packaging has passed. The dates on food packages are very conservative and food scientists agree that most foods, if stored properly, can be safely consumed for days, or even weeks, past the package date. If just 61 per cent of Americans needlessly discard just a quarter gallon of milk each month, they would be wasting US$700-million each year.

CYCLING

Mexico City has now installed 1,200 "pay-as-you-go" rental bikes at 85 docking stations. Since February, 7,000 people have signed up and taken more than 200,000 trips. This adds to a global trend of municipally endorsed cycling, a low-tech scheme started in the French town of La Rochelle in 1974. Copenhagen launched its first big automated project in 1995. German cities, including Berlin, have versions paid for by mobile phones. But Paris is the most successful with 20,000 bikes available for users with swipe cards. And London introduced a 6,000 bike programme at 400 docking stations last July.

INCOME

The State Senate of California has endorsed a feasibility study to have the Department of Motor Vehicles experiment with electronic, wirelessly connected digital licence plates that could display advertisements whenever a car comes to a halt at a stop sign or a red light. With a deficit of US$19-billion, the state could certainly use the income.

CHRISTMAS

Selfridges in Oxford Street, London started its Christmas sales on August 2nd of this year, 145 days before the holiday. The store says that previous sales had shown that some customers, especially overseas tourists, start thinking about Christmas during August.

CHAMPAGNE

Divers have found 30 bottles of champagne thought to pre-date the French Revolution on the Baltic seabed. When one was opened, they found the wine, believed to have been made by Clicquot (now Verve Clicquot) between 1782 and 1788, to be in good condition. If confirmed, this will be the oldest drinkable champagne in the world. Wine experts estimate that each bottle would fetch around US$69,000 at auction.

CLAIMS

About one Italian car in 12 is involved in a claim each year, compared with one in 23 in France which has a similar number of people and cars. The result is sky-high premiums with Italians paying well over twice as much for their annual car insurance as French drivers. Premiums increased by 18 per cent in Italy between 2002 and 2009, against an average of 7 per cent in the rest of Europe. Fraud plays a large part in this. It is estimated that in the Provinces of Naples and Caserta the fraud rate is at least 12 per cent of claims. One in six cars in Naples was apparently involved in an accident last year.

RULES

British shoppers are to be banned from buying eggs by the dozen under new regulations approved by the European Parliament. For the first time, eggs and other products such as oranges and bread rolls will be sold by weight instead of by the number in the packet. Until now, Britain has been exempt from EU regulations that forbid selling goods by number. The move could cost millions of pounds because of changes that will have to be made to packaging and labelling. Costs that will likely be passed on to the consumer. Eggs used to be sold from trays but between the two world wars it was discovered that eggs kept longer if they were left standing on their ends, so the cartons of 12 and six were developed.

ONLINE

Nearly two million Britains have come online during the last year, over half of which are over 50 years of age. The net audience now stands at 38.8-million. Over-50s account for 31 per cent of the UK net audience The older generation are attracted to a range of sites, including travel, genealogy, fashion, video and community sites.

TRADE

Canada and the European Union will meet their target to sign an ambitious free trade agreement in 2011. Canada has been trying for years to sign a free trade deal with Europe. The European Union is Canada's second-largest export market, behind the U.S. In 2009, Canadian exports to the EU totalled C$29.8-billion. Canada expects trade to rise by 20 per cent in the five years after the deal is enforced.

PROPERTY

Canadians bought more U.S. properties than the citizens of any other country in the past year. Canadians bought 23 per cent of all homes sold to foreigners to March of 2010. Mexicans came in second at 10 per cent, the U.K. 9 per cent, China 8 per cent and Germany 7 per cent rounded out the top five countries. There were US$907-billion of sales in the time period studied and foreigners are estimated to have spent $41-billion meaning that Canadians spent about $9.5-billion on U.S. real estate.

CHILDREN

More American women are choosing not to have children than three decades ago. Nearly 20 per cent of older women do not have children, compared to 10 per cent in the 1970s. One in five white women between 40-44 were childless in 2008, compared with 17 per cent of black and Hispanic women and 16 per cent of Asian women. The survey found that 41 per cent of adults said that children are very important for a good marriage, down from 65 per cent in 1990.

LIVESTOCK

The genetic diversity of Africa's indigenous livestock needs to be tapped before it is lost forever according to experts. Native breeds have adapted to tolerate parasites or produce robust milk yields in harsh conditions. Indigenous breeds are dying out as farmers switched to cattle from developed nations.

ENDORSEMENTS

Inmates at eight prisons in Alberta and Saskatchewan recently voted on which treats to stock in their prison snack bars. They voted for Old Dutch, giving the potato chip maker exclusive rights to supply all snack foods to the canteens where prisoners spend their hard earned cash. The one-year contract is worth about C$400,000 and can be renewed for another two years.

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

August 2010 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

August 2010 Edition

EARNINGS

US government statistics show that women in 35 per cent of professional dual-income homes are now making more than their husbands. That proportion was only 28 per cent five years ago. It is now estimated that American women professionals will overtake their male peers in average earnings by 2024 if current trends continue. Demographers attribute the trend, affecting professions such as lawyers and doctors, to a combination of employers being more amenable towards women staff, declining birth rates and the US recession's comparatively light impact on female workers.

SIZE

An offshore turbine more than 500 feet tall with a diameter of 475 feet is due to make an appearance in British waters within the next two years. The 10 megawatt machine, dubbed Britannia, may mark the start of a growing trend. The Britannia will have three enormous blades, each weighing more than 30 tonnes which will sweep a circle more than 100 feet wider than the 400 foot diameter of the London Eye. It is expected to generate enough electricity to power 10,000 homes and over its lifetime could replace the use of two million barrels of oil.

MANUFACTURING

The US remained the world's biggest manufacturing nation in 2009 by output but is poised to relinquish this slot in 2011 to China, thus ending a 110-year run as the number one country in factory production. Last year, the US created 19.9 per cent of world manufacturing output, compared with 18.6 for China. The US became the world's biggest manufacturer in the late 1890s, edging Britain into second place. Last year, goods output by the US totalled US$1,717-billion, ahead of China at $1,608-billion. China was the world's leading country for goods production for 1,500 years, until the 1850's when Britain took over for a brief spell.

COUNTERFEIT

The United Nations reports that China with the aid of organized criminal networks, control the US$8.2-billion European market for designer clothes knockoffs, fake electronics and uninspected aircraft parts. Customs officials can no longer keep up with shipments of bogus products from China that have followed a surge in European imports from Asia over the past decade.

BUSHMEAT

A new study estimates that about 270 tonnes of illegal bushmeat may be passing through one of Europe's busiest airports each year. The illicit trade could pose a risk to human or animal health and increase the demand for meat from threatened species. The figure is based on seizures carried out over 17 days at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. During this period a total of 134 passengers arriving on 29 flights from 14 African nations were searched. Nine people were found to be carrying bushmeat for a total of 188kg. In total 11 species were found including two types of primate, two kinds of crocodile and three rodent species listed as protected species.

MARKETING

Nestle's is to begin sailing a supermarket barge down two Amazon river tributaries as it competes with Unilever to reach emerging-market customers cut off from branded goods. The world's largest food company will send a boat with a 100-square metres of supermarket space on a journey to 18 small cities and 800,000 potential customers on the Para and Xingu rivers in Brazil before starting the journey again. The vessel will carry 300 different goods including chocolate, yogurt, ice cream and juices.

TREES

African leaders met recently in Chad to push the idea of planting a tree belt across Africa from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east. The Great Green Wall project is backed by the African Union and is aimed at halting the advancing Sahara Desert. The belt would be 15km wide and 77,775km long. It would go through 11 countries from east to west. The trees would be "drought-adapted species" and it is hoped the trees will slow soil erosion, slow wind speeds and help rain water filter into the ground to stop the desert from growing.

AGRICULTURE

A new report suggests that the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) will enjoy an agricultural boom over the next decade as production stalls in Western Europe. Agricultural output in the BRIC nations will grow three times as fast as the major developed countries and developing countries will provide the main source of growth for world agricultural production, consumption and trade.

RETIREMENT

The right to retire at the age of 60 has been a untouchable tenet of the generous French system of worker benefits since 1983, but the country can no longer afford it. It is now proposed that the legal retirement age should be pushed forward in stages and, by 2018, should stand at 62. Under the new proposal, French workers would have to work until they reach the age of 67, rather than 65, to collect maximum benefits. Presently, the state pension system is running a US$40-billion deficit.

OLIVE OIL

Globally, Spain continues to be the powerhouse in the production of extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), with Italy second. Now, it is being produced in countries as far apart as Croatia and Chile. The boom is being fuelled by two developments: a growing appreciation of extra-virgin olive oil as a healthier fat, and technological advances that have made it more cost-effective to harvest. There are even fledgling olive oil industries in China and India, but Mediterranean imports continue to dominate the U.S. market. A Chilean company has just introduced two products to the U.S. market, an EVOO for everyday cooking and a super-premium product intended for sauces.

DIRECTORIES

Canada's largest directory publisher will no longer distribute residential phone books in seven of Canada's largest cities. The White Pages will be available only by request in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal and Quebec City. The change will save the company from printing about five million directories each year. The commercial Yellow Page directories will still be available.

PHONES

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker has launched four low-priced handsets and a charger that can be connected to a bicycle's dynamo which charges when the wheels turn. The bicycle charger kit and handsets are available priced between US$38.00 and $57.00. The dynamo, a small electrical generator, uses the movement of the wheels to charge the handset through a standard charging jack used in most Nokia handsets.

HEALTH

Retail sales within the U.S. consumer packaged goods health-and-wellness industry reached almost US$125-billion in 2009, an overall growth of 5 per cent over the previous year. Fortified foods and beverages continue to account for the largest proportion of sales, followed by vitamins, minerals, herbal and dietary supplements. The largest percentage increase was in the natural/organic general merchandise category which includes pet products, clothing and household cleaning products.

SHIPS

Lower than normal water levels in the Montreal area of the St. Lawrence Seaway are forcing oceangoing container ships to lighten their loads, exacerbating an already tight capacity situation. The low water levels, a result of light winter snowfall and a dry spring in the Quebec region, prompted the U.S. and Canadian management agencies to lower the maximum draft for oceangoing ships on the waterway by 3 inches to 26 feet 3 inches.

SCOTCH

For years, Scotch whisky exports remained flat while vodka production rose by 3.5 per cent a year for 20 years. While even the basic brands of whisky mature for at least three years, vodka can be made, sold and drunk in a week. Now, the whisky distilleries are marketing the "premiumisation" of both blended and malt whiskies, some of which are aged for 12 years. Since 2000, Scotch exports have risen by over 40 per cent. Records were set last year when the volume of exports rose by 4 per cent to 1.1-billion bottles worth US$4.9-billion.

MINERALS

The U.S. has discovered nearly US1-trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to alter the Afghanistan economy. The previously unknown deposits, including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium, are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centres in the world.

SIZE

Humanity's total digital output currently stands at eight million petabytes, each of which represents a million gigabytes, but is expected to pass 1.2-zettabytes this year. One zettabyte is equal to one million petabytes. The current size of the world's digital content is equivalent to all the information that could be stored on 75-billion Apple iPads.

FOOD

The world's biggest maker of nitrogen fertilizer says that Africa will be the key to boosting global food output to meet rising demand. Africa, along with Latin America, is among the few places with land available that can be developed for farming. Africa could become the breadbasket of the world which is why quite a few countries are buying up African land including China and Middle East countries. The world's food production must expand by 70 per cent in the next four decades to meet demand.

TIMBER

The European Union is set to finally ban illegal timber in 2012. After two years of negotiations, legislators reached a compromise on a deal that will require companies to trace where their timber was harvested. Up to 40 per cent of the world's wood production is estimated to come from illegally logged tropical forests. Illegal logging is a major driver of deforestation, with the volume of industrial wood from illegal sources estimated at 350-650-million cubic metres each year.

REVENUE

As the world headed into recession in 2008, newspapers in different countries varied greatly in the extent to which they relied on advertising for their revenues. Japanese papers got only 35 per cent of their revenues from advertisements, the rest came from their readers. But 87 per cent of what American newspapers earned came from advertisers. This made them much more vulnerable to the decline in ad spending that accompanied the global economic crisis. Only papers in Japan, Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy got more than half their revenue from their readers.

DRINKS

PepsiCo is to invest US$2.5-billion in China over the next three years. The world's second biggest drinks maker is to open 19 new plants and install new production lines at existing facilities. Pepsi currently lags behind Coke in China, with less than half of its rival's market share. Pepsi will also create new products aimed specifically at Asia.

DISTANCE

The longest distance from a McDonald's restaurant in the U.S. has now been identified. It lies between the two tiny hamlets of Meadow and Glad Valley in South Dakota where it is at least two hours drive to the nearest Golden Arches.

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

July 2010 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

July 2010 Edition

CRIME

Members and associates of the Transport Asset Protection Association (TAPA) reported 3,873 cargo crimes in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2009, costing manufacturers and logistic service providers losses of around US$150-million. Commodities such as tobacco products, non-electronics and sports goods saw higher levels of losses compared with the year before. There was a downward trend in other areas including metal, laptops, mobile phones, pharmaceutical and medical products. More than 200 security and transport specialists met in June in the UK to increase their joint efforts to combat cargo crime.

REFINING

Nigeria has signed a US$23-billion agreement with China to build three gasoline refineries and a fuel complex in the oil-rich, but gas-starved nation that imports much of its fuel. The deal comes as China's resource hungry economy manoeuvres its way into the African economy. The investment will add 750,000 barrels of oil a day to Nigeria's refining capability.

PANAMA

Canada has now signed a free trade agreement with Panama as well as side agreements on the environment and labour cooperation. The Agreement will lower tariffs on goods and remove other trade barriers giving new opportunities for the Canadian construction, manufacturing and agricultural sectors. It will also secure access to the Panamanian procurement market, including the US$5.4-billion expansion of the Panama Canal and other infrastructure projects. Canadian merchandise exports to Panama totalled C$91.4-million in 2009, a 52 per cent increase since 2005.

LUXURY

Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace has become one of the first hotels to install a gold vending machine. The exterior of the machine is coated with a thin layer of gold and offers customers 320 items to choose from ranging from gold bars that can weigh up to 10 grams to customised gold coins. Gold rates are constantly updated inside the machine, courtesy of a built-in computer connected to a dealer which sells gold online.

TRANSPORT

A new bridge has been opened between Mozambique and Tanzania that will allow the first road traffic between the countries. The Unity Bridge crosses the Ruvuma River which up until now has only been passable by ferry or canoe. The two countries each paid half of the US$35-million cost of the 720-metre bridge. Mozambique's infrastructure was shattered during decades of civil war that ended in 1992. Over the past year, Mozambique has also opened a new bridge to Malawi and another over the Zambezi River.

SUBWAYS

China is to spend more than US$146-billion to triple the size of its subway system over the next five years. The country will increase the amount of track beneath its cities to more than 3,000 kilometres by 2015 from 940 kilometres at the end on 2009.

SUBSIDIES

More than 1,200 beneficiaries of European farm aid received payments worth at least US$1.2-million last year. Sugar processing companies topped the list of recipients, while producers in France were granted the highest total levels of support. All these payments were made through the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which doles out about US$60-billion, or roughly 40 per cent of the EU's budget, each year to support farmers across the 27-nation bloc.

GAS

New data confirms that Canada has enough natural gas to maintain its current output for a full century. In a country that consumes 2.6-trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas a year, 4,000 tcf of the fuel are buried beneath Canada's foothills, plains and lowlands after a survey was conducted from coast-to-coast. Canada currently produces far more natural gas than it uses and exports the remainder to the U.S.

SPACE

It is estimated that in less than 18 months there will be no more big blocks of net addresses to give out. Predictions name 9 September 2011 as the date on which the last block will be released for net firms and others to use. Everything connected to the net needs an "IP address" to ensure data reaches the right person or device. Experts say that the net's entire existing address space will be exhausted about a year after that date. A newer scheme is being rolled out but many firms and countries are being slow to switch.

BIOMETRICS

A Polish bank is claiming to be the first in Europe to install a biometric ATM allowing its clients to use their fingertips rather than a bank card to withdraw money. The machine is based on the "finger vein" technology developed in Japan which scans the unique network of minute veins in fingertips. Although new to Europe, bank machines with this technology are already widely used in Japan.

WINE

A Chilean wine recently beat two of Bordeaux's Premier crus, two Californian wines and a Super Tuscan in a blind tasting by 100 of New York's top critics. A Napa Valley wine was ranked second.

INTERNET

Statistics Canada reports that the vast majority of Canadians are connected to the Web. In 2009, 80 per cent of Canadians aged 16 and older (21.7-million) used the Net for personal reasons. Internet usage in communities with more than 10,000 residents is now 83 per cent. Canada ranks 17th in the world among countries with the highest number of Internet users. Usage is 94 per cent in Canadian households where income is greater than C$85,000 a year and 56 per cent where income is less than $30,000 a year.

MUSIC

In 2009, sales of recorded music totalled US$17-billion globally. Overall sales were hit by the recession falling by 7.2 per cent from 2008. But sales of music in the form of digital files for use on computers, mobile phones and MP3 players grew by 9.2 per cent. Americans spent $4.6-billion on music last year, the most in the world. More than two-fifths of this was spent on digital files.

FISHING

Over-fishing now means that UK trawlers have to work 17 times as hard for the same catch as 120 years ago. Four times more fish were being landed in UK ports 100 years ago than today, and catches peaked in 1939. Over a century of intensive trawl fishing has severely depleted UK seas of bottom living fish like halibut, turbot, haddock and plaice. In the late 1880s, the government set up inspectorates in major fishing ports in an attempt to monitor what fish were being landed.

DUBAI

The long-awaited Al Maktoum International Airport opened its cargo operation in June with plans to receive passengers by the end of March next year. The US$10-billion airport is set to be the world's largest. It will have six runways and handle 120-million passengers a year when fully operational. The first phase will see the opening of a single A380-compatible runway and a cargo terminal with a capacity of 250,000 tonnes a year, with room to expand to 600,000 tonnes annually. The airport is part of the $33-billion Dubai World Central development, home to the regions largest port.

HOTELS

The hotel industry suffered one of its worst years in 2009 as investment evaporated and some hotel owners even opted to pave over properties rather than risk renting out rooms by the night. Already feeling the effects of the recession in 2008, Canada's hotel investment industry experienced another challenging year in 2009 as transaction volume plummeted by 61 per cent. The price-per-room average saw a decline of 12 per cent nationally.

CAPITAL

The Milken Institute recently ranked 122 countries in a annual exercise designed to capture the ease with which businesses can raise domestic and foreign capital, whether from banks, equity markets or other sources. Canada came first followed by Hong Kong, the UK, Singapore and the U.S. Of the bottom 20 countries, 17 were in Africa.

TIRES

The by-products of oil are the basis of many of the materials, such as plastics, from which cars are made. One of the by-products is isoprene which is used to make synthetic rubber in car tires. About a billion tires are made each year, each one requiring about 26 litres of oil. Now a way has been found to make greener tires by using genetically modified bugs to produce isoprene biologically. Around a quarter of each tire is made from isoprene and about 60 per cent of worldwide isoprene production is used by tiremakers, the rest goes into other products like glues, disposable diapers and surgical gloves.

SHIPS

Fresh orders for the world's shipyards are at a low ebb. Last year they were more than 80 per cent lower than in 2007, when sky-high freight rates and positive economic forecasts encouraged shipping companies to scramble for new vessels. Asia's shipyards, streamlined and efficient, concentrate on building large standardised ships. These are the sort in greatest oversupply. South Korea's shipyards won over half of the global orders for new ships in the first quarter of 2010, but they were worth just US$2.2-billion. In 2008, Korean yards won orders worth $32-billion.

BEES

Japanese bee-keepers have been warned to be on their guard following a spate of hive thefts. The price of honeybees has doubled in recent years after a ban on imports to try and prevent the spread of parasites. In central Shizuoka prefecture, eight hives of 60,000 bees were taken in a single night from five separate farms. Recently, the price of a swarm has more than doubled to US$400. In 2009, more than two million insects were stolen.

REMITTANCES

Migrants from developing countries sent home US$316-billion during 2009, or 6 per cent less than they did during the previous year. South Asia was the only part of the developing world to which migrants sent more money last year than in 2008. Indians abroad sent home $49-billion and Chinese $48-billion. Although remittances were small relative to the economies of India and China, they made up 50 per cent of Tajikistan's GDP in 2008.

DEVELOPMENT

The premiers of B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan have signed a deal designed to help the three western Canadian provinces remove barriers to economic development and function more as a single economic zone. Now, professional qualifications and business licenses obtained in one province will be recognized by each of the partners. This economic region is nine million people strong with a combined GDP of C$555-billion. The provinces also agreed to promote the region together and the three premiers recently travelled together to promote trade with Japan and China.

AUTOS

The UK is now the fourth largest automotive manufacturer in Europe, building two million engines and one million vehicles in 2009. The industry in the UK supports more than 180,000 manufacturing and 640,000 jobs in automotive supply, retail and servicing.

PROGRESS

The first modern antiperspirant, EverDry, hit the stores in 1903 and was so acidic that it regularly ate through clothing.

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

June 2010 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

June 2010 Edition

PHONES

There are now over 545-million cell-phones in India, thanks to its booming emerging economy. This number is expected to reach one billion by 2015. That exceeds the number of people who have access to toilet or sanitary facilities, about 366-million of the one billion-strong population.

POWER

Electricity rationing in Ethiopia, which has curbed domestic manufacturers' power use by half, will continue for several more months. Non-exporting factories have had to cut their electricity input following a tunnel collapse at the country's biggest generating plant earlier this year. Power cuts caused cement-production shortages in Ethiopia, resulting in a 50-per-cent price increase.

FISH

Canadian seafood exports are opening new lines of business for the East Coast industry. There is a growing European appetite for freshly harvested lobster and other seafood, coupled with environmental concerns. The total value of Canadian exports of fish and seafood last year was C$3.6-billion of which $2.3-billion were sent to the U.S. $416-million worth were exported to the European Union. Lobster alone yielded exports of $800-million.

COSTS

According to a KPMG study, Canada ranks second among 10 key countries as a cost-effective place to do business. Mexico, the only developing country included in the study because of its tight links with the two larger North American economies, came first in the overall competitiveness ranking, mainly thanks to low labour and facilities costs. But Canada beat all of its peers in the Group of Seven industrialized countries and showed a cost advantage over the U.S. which finished eighth on the list. The Netherlands, Australia and Britain were third, fourth and fifth on the list.

RULES

The Canadian government may relax the labelling rules for food products to qualify as "Products of Canada", to allow for ingredients that are difficult to source in Canada. The present rules only allow foods that contain at least 98-per-cent Canadian-produced ingredients to be labelled "Product of Canada". Food manufacturers have argued that this rule unfairly limits the number of products that can claim to be Canadian. The food and beverage processing industry is the largest manufacturing employer in Canada and produces annual shipments worth C$19-billion.

BARLEY

The Canadian Wheat Board has signed its largest long-term agreement to sell 500,000 tonnes of malting barley over three years to China, a deal valued at about C$100-million. China is the world's largest consumer of beer by volume and its production has doubled in the past decade. Breweries have been adding less malt to some of its beer brands to spread out supply but it can no longer meet demand. The Winnipeg-based Canadian Wheat Board is the largest wheat and barley marketer in the world, selling to more than 70 countries.

PACKAGING

Sporting goods maker Puma is to launch eco-friendly packaging for its sneakers next year to reduce its carbon footprint by getting rid of the old-type shoe boxes. The new packaging will put the shoes in cardboard frames wrapped in reusable bags. It is estimated that this will save over 8,500 tonnes of paper and a reduction of 60-per-cent in water and energy used during the production process and the amount needed for transportation due to lighter packaging. German based Puma is the world's third-largest sporting goods maker behind U.S. giants Nike and Adidas.

RAIL

From one end of the country to the other, China is in the midst of a railway boom that promises to transform the world's third-largest economy. By making it easier to move people and goods, the rail growth will gradually shift the centre of economic gravity inland, accelerating the development of central and western China. Taking freight and passenger traffic together, China already has the world's busiest railway. But measured by the size of the country and the 1.3-billion population it is small compared to that of Russia, the U.S. or Canada.

CHAMPAGNE

The champagne bubble has finally burst as the French turn instead to the cheaper sparkling wine Cremant. Not just in France is Cremant selling well, producers are starting to sell the fizzy wine to Britain also. Champagne sales dropped by 9-per-cent last year overall, while Cremant in Burgundy was up 6-per-cent and in Alsace, the biggest producer, by 8-per-cent, despite the global downturn, where sales rose last year to 32-million bottles. Cremant cost about half the price of champagne.

CARGO

Theft of cargo in the U.S. is big business, totalling as much as US$10-billion a year. The average net gain for cargo theft is $200,000 per incident, compared to $150,000 for robbing an armoured car and less than $10,000 for a bank robbery. Companies that outsource production and turn warehouse and distribution over to wholesalers may reduce operating expenses, but they also make it easier for cargo thieves to invade their supply chain.

GROWTH

Four years, ago when Saudi Arabia relaxed its banking laws to allow foreign direct investment, there were just 11 investment banks in the Kingdom; today there are 110. Now the hotels are scrambling to catch up. At last count there were nine international brand hotels under construction in the Saudi capital alone. Most are of the high-end luxury category, but all have sub-brands to cater to the three-and four-star markets.

ALCOHOL

Europeans put away over nine litres of alcohol a year per person and the European Commission has declared that alcohol is a key public health and social concern. Yet in most big EU countries, drinking is in decline. In France and Italy the average adult drinks over a third less than 30 years ago. Germans and Spaniards are also reducing consumption as has most of eastern Europe in recent decades.

BULK

Many grocers in the U.S. are expanding their bulk food sections across a variety of categories, which in turn prompted an estimated 15-per-cent increase in bulk food sales last year. Long a staple of natural and organic food stores, bulk foods are now making major inroads in conventional food stores. Estimated to cost 35-per-cent less than their pre-packaged counterparts, many bulk foods offer organic attributes that also appeal to a growing base of shoppers. Herbs and spices offer the greatest savings.

ASHES

Kenya's flower industry was badly hit by the cancellation of flights across Europe because of the ash cloud caused by a volcano in Iceland. In the worst period, it was costing growers nearly $2-million a day. Flowers are the East African country's export earner, accounting for about 20-per-cent of all exports. Every day, Kenya exports from 12 to 15 tonnes of roses to the European Union about 97-per-cent of its total exports. About 300 growers employ an estimated 100,000 people with about 1.2-million people deriving their livelihood from the flower export industry.

POPULATION

In 1800 the world's population was one billion. Thanks to advances in public health and the industrial revolution, the figure is now 8-billion, having doubled in the past 50 years. Global consumption of food and freshwater has more than tripled and fossil-fuel use risen four-fold in the last 50 years.

FINES

New York City's oldest library says one of its ledgers shows that George Washington, the first U.S. president, has racked up 220 years' worth of late fees on two books he borrowed but never returned. Both books were due back on Nov. 2, 1789.

TAXES

Amazon.com Inc. says it is taking a stand for free speech by fighting a request from North Carolina tax authorities for information on people who have bought about 50-million items since 2003. North Carolina requires residents to pay taxes on online purchases if buying the same item in a store would result in a sales tax. But out-of-state retailers can't be forced to collect North Carolina's tax if it has no physical presence in the state.

CONTAINERS

South Korea's biggest port, after having been overwhelmed with empty containers a year ago, is now dealing with shipping lines that have more cargo than they can carry. Surging shipments of electronics, clothes and furniture to the U.S. and Europe, along with capacity cuts by shipping lines, has caused as much as 15 per-cent of containers to be delayed this year, often by more than a week. After slumping trade and an excess supply of vessels caused industry-wide losses of about US$20-billion, container lines cut trips and imposed higher rates.

GOLD

The World Gold Council forecasts that Chinese demand for gold will soon outstrip its domestic supplies. Although the country's per capita use of the precious metal lags that of India, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, demand is expected to double within 10 years. China's demand for gold has increased by an average of 13-per-cent each year for the past five years. And in six years, China could exhaust its known gold reserves unless China were to attract significant capital investment for gold exploration.

MAGAZINES

The Canadian-English-language edition of Reader's Digest has experienced pronounced declines in circulation and readership in the last 20 years but a recent survey shows the 62-year old monthly continues to have the largest overall readership among Canadian periodicals. The publication has, on average, 6.36-million readers each month. Canadian Living is in second spot with 4-million readers in the English market. Chatelaine occupies third place with 3.56-million readers. Among business publications, Report on Business Magazine, published by the Globe and Mail, held top spot with an average of 1.27-million readers.

MAIL

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is America's second biggest civilian employer. It has more outlets than McDonald's, Wal-Mart and Starbucks combined. But the Government Accounting Office (GAO) reports that since 2006, mail volumes in the U.S. have dropped by 17-per cent and in the last fiscal year, revenues fell by nearly US$7-billion. The USPS says it will lose $8-billion this fiscal year and as much as $238-billion by 2020 unless big changes are made. The recession prompted businesses and advertisers, which account for the bulk of its income, to cut back on mailing.

SERVICES

China may have overtaken Germany to become the world's largest exporter of goods in 2009, but the U.S remained the biggest exporter of services. During 2009, the value of world exports of services was about a quarter of the value of global trade in goods. America's service exports in 2009 were 14.2-per cent of the world's total with a value of US$470-billion. The market share of Britain, the world's second-biggest exporter of services was just over half that of the U.S. and worth $270-billion.

WORTH

According to Forbes Magazine, the number of Russian billionaires and their combined fortunes doubled last year. There are now 62 Russian billionaires, up from 32, with a combined fortune totalling US$297-billion, up from $142-billion the year before.

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.

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May 2010 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

May 2010 Edition

ANTI-DUMPING

Dumping investigations are initiated when a country suspects that its domestic industry is threatened by imports sold at unfairly cheap prices. They may result in the levelling of extra duties on "dumped" goods. According to the World Bank, the number of investigations initiated rose during the global economic crisis. The number of new cases in 2008 was 101, up from 73 in 2007. Last year the number went up again to 106. In 2009, developing countries were behind 70 per cent of the cases, up from 58 per cent in 2007.

RAIL

A program to reduce train congestion in the Chicago area is getting a boost with US$100-million in federal stimulus money for 16 rail projects. It is intended to unclog bottlenecks that cause freight trains to take a day or longer to pass through Chicago and block passenger trains and vehicles. The project, which will include overpasses or underpasses and track and signal improvements, hopes to cut rail transit delays by 57,631 passenger hours per year and reduce motorist delays by 344,499 hours annually for a combined savings of nearly $10-million per year.

WATER

Venezuelan officials are battling the effects of a severe drought by sharply increasing rates for people who use too much water. Venezuelans who consume more than 10,567 gallons (40,000 litres) a month will be charged three times the normal rate. The drought has caused water levels to drop to critical lows behind the Guri Dam which supplies roughly 70 per cent of Venezuela's electricity.

DRINK

French exports of expensive Champagne and cognacs suffered a record drop last year as people drank less and switched to cheaper brands in the U.S. and Britain, its biggest foreign markets. Exports of wines and spirits fell 17 per cent to US$10.5-billion last year, the largest ever one-year drop and the first decline since 2004. France is the world's biggest exporter of wine and spirits. Exports of Champagne fell by 28 per cent and cognac sales slid by 15.6 per cent. U.S. imports of French wine tumbled 22.7 per cent last year while sales to Britain were down 20.2 per cent

AID

Foreign aid to poor countries from the rich countries in the OECD's Development Assistance Committee will reach a record US$107.4-billion this year. Although the rich members of the European Union promised in 2005 to give 0.51 per cent of their GDP as aid by 2010, only some with reach that target. France, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Greece and Italy will all miss it. Some, like Sweden and Luxembourg will both give 1 per cent of GDP. Donors promised in 2005 to increase aid to Africa by $25-billion this year but the OECD estimates only half of this will materialize.

TRENDS

An itinerant footloose army of available and wiling retirees in their 60s and 70s is marching through the American outback, looking to stretch retirement dollars by volunteering to work in parks, campgrounds and wildlife sanctuaries, usually in exchange for camping space. Park and wildlife agencies say that retired volunteers have in turn become all the more crucial as budget cuts and new demands have made it harder to keep parks open. Work-campers come together in one place, leading nature walks or staffing visitor centres, typically working 20- to 30 hours a week before moving on to their next assignment.

TAXES

For post-communist Romanians, a Big Mac and soda meant much more than a meal: It was a culinary signpost from the free and capitalist west, a sign that they too had arrived. But now the Balkan country is moving to join the health conscious 21st century by proposing taxes on burgers, French fries, soda and other fast foods with high fat and sugar content. It is estimated that the new taxes could generate up to US$1.37-billion in new revenue, compared with $21.9-billion in total revenue for 2010.

VANCOUVER

The Conference Board of Canada forecasts that the Olympic effect will give Vancouver's economy enough of a boost to make it the top economic performer among Canadian cities this year. The Board estimates that Canada's third-largest city will see economic growth leap by 4.5 per cent this year after shrinking 1.8 per cent in 2009. In addition to the boost provided by the Olympic Winter games, housing construction and consumer spending are expected to rebound strongly in Vancouver.

RUNNING

New research suggests that we don't throw away our old fashioned plimsolls as they may be better for us than high-tech trainers. Running barefoot or in shoes with little padding, encourages runners to land on the ball of their feet, reducing the impact to almost nothing. Most runners wearing trainers today land on their heels almost exclusively, the research shows. The average runner strikes the ground 600 times per kilometre making runners prone to repetitive stress injuries.

POWER

China vaulted over competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world's largest maker of wind turbines and is poised to expand even further this year. China has also leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world's largest manufacturer of solar panels. The country is also pushing hard to build nuclear reactors and the most efficient types of coal power plants. These efforts to dominate renewable energy technologies raise the prospect that the West may trade its dependence on oil from the Middle East for a reliance on solar panels, wind turbines and other gear manufactured in China.

GREEN

Playing golf and remaining green can be a problem especially if you tend to land in water hazards where it is estimated that it takes between 100 and 1,000 years for a golf ball to decompose naturally. Now, a Spanish golf ball manufacturer has invented a ball that not only dissolves upon contact with water, but is made of fish food. The "Ecobioball's " outer layer is made of recyclable plastic polymer that degrades completely within 48 hours to reveal a dense inner ball of fish food.

SAFETY

An estimated 120-billion riders enter about 750,000 elevators in the United States each year and these devices represent one of the safest ways to travel. But every year, about 2,640 elevator injuries, severe enough to require a visit to the emergency room, occur among the elderly who often have vision and balance problems. Misalignment of the elevator floor and the floor of the hallway is also a common cause of injury.

TRADE

A free trade agreement between Peru and China has now come into effect. Peru's exports to China are expected to increase 17 per cent to US$4.7-billion. Total trade with China last year was $7.1-billion, up from $5.3-billion in 2007. Peru is the second South American country to sign a free trade deal with China, the other is Chile. Peruvian exports to China are mainly metals: copper, lead, zinc, iron and fish products. China sells phones, motor vehicles and footwear. Peru already has a free trade deal with Canada and trade last year was worth US$2.3-billion.

GROWTH

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says it will create up to 6,500 jobs in retail and construction this year as part of a plan to open 35 to 40 massive supercentres in Canada. More than half of the locations will be entirely new stores or relocations and expansions. The remainder will be renovations of existing store layouts. Wal-Mart's investment will add up to almost US$500-million creating 2,000 jobs in construction and 4,500 employees at the retail level. The is will bring its total number of stores in Canada to 325 from 280 which includes 124 supercentres. It already employs more than 70,000 people across Canada.

BREAKFAST

Restaurant breakfast sales across the U.S. are down sharply and analysts blame the troubled economy for the dip because fewer Americans are going to work in the morning. At the same time, staying in has become cheaper. The price of eating at home fell by 2 per cent in the past 12 months, while food in restaurants rose by 1.6 per cent. Orange juice (U.S. frozen concentrate) is up 61 per cent, while eggs are up 2 per cent and bacon (U.S.frozen pork bellies) has risen 18 per cent. Coffee is up 5 per cent globally.

PLASTIC

British scientists have developed food packaging made from sugar. Although there are already plastics on the market made from natural materials like corn, these do not biodegrade quickly. The new discovery would not only cut down on the use of oil that is usually used to make plastic, but potentially enable people to compost plastic at home. Plastics made from oil can take hundreds of years to decompose but the new material would break down in a matter of months. Around seven per cent of worldwide oil and gas resources are consumed in plastic manufacture, with worldwide production exceeding 150-million tons annually.

TRANSPORTATION

There are more than 12,000 RV-related businesses in the U.S. with combined annual revenue of more than US$37.5-billion. RV shipments in January totalled 15,800 units, more than double the number shipped January of 2009. RV shipments are projected to total 215,900 in 2010, a gain of 30 per cent from 2009 shipments as dealers restock reduced inventories.

E-WASTE

Electronic waste is becoming an increasing problem in developing countries as sales of electronics surge and enforcement of environmental laws remain lax. The UN says developing countries like China and India risk serious consequences to the environment and human health unless they institute proper e-waste collection and recycling programs. By 2020, e-waste from mobile phones in China will be about seven times greater than it was in 2007 and waste from computers will be five times greater. The growth in India is even worse. In 2010 China will produce 2.3-million tonnes of e-waste second only to the U.S.

MOVIES

Movies in 3-D are becoming such big potential money makers that Hollywood studios are cramming them into U.S. theatres, even though there are not enough screens available to give each film its fullest possible run. About 3,000-to 4,000 3-D-ready screens are available now in the U.S. and Canada. Typically, a movie might be shown on about 10,000 screens.

PIRACY

An industry report estimates that the growth in illegal file-sharing could cost European countries 1.2-million jobs and US$500-billion by 2015. It claims that without measures to curb piracy, the UK alone could lose up to 250,000 jobs. The report studied the impact of web piracy in Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain.

DATA

A recent U.S. Commerce Department report highlights the differences between official trade statistics produced by the U.S. and China. The analysis found that official Chinese data on exports to the U.S. are typically lower than official U.S. data on imports. Similarly, China reports higher imports from the U.S. than the U.S. reports that it exports to China.

BARBIE

In her 51 years, the toy doll Barbie has held 125 jobs. She has been an astronaut and a rock star but has moved on. Her latest career is that of a computer engineer.

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

April 2010 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

April 2010 Edition

CRUISING

In 2009, cruise companies invested US$4.7-billion to build 14 new ships and they will launch a further 12 vessels this year. Many of these were planned before the economic downturn. To entice customers, cruise lines have cut prices dramatically, sometimes by as much as 40 per cent. Because of these discounts, more people are taking cruises: 13.4-million in 2009, up from 12.6-million in 2007. There are around 30 ports of embarkation in the U.S. alone and the industry hopes to attract more customers in the next few years. Only 20 per cent of Americans have been on a cruise.

PETS

The breeding of snakes is a serious business in the U.S. Revenue from the sales of boas and pythons amounts to about US$1.6- to 1.8-billion a year. Americans own more than 2.5-million snakes. The recession has hurt what used to be a lucrative hobby. Fewer people want to splurge on snakes that cost thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars.

TURKEY

Over the next decade, Turkey is to invest about US$12-billion to build a high-speed railway network and shift more traffic to trains. Railways carry 3 per cent of passenger and per cent of freight traffic in Turkey. The country opened its first high-speed railway last March, a $4-billion line that links Ankara to the city of Eskisehir. In total, almost 2,300 kilometres of high-speed rail are planned.

SCHOOLS

An imbalance in U.S. medical schools has been growing for a quarter century. Many bright students have had to study offshore while American hospitals were using foreign-trained and foreign-born physicians to fill medical residencies. Now, two dozen new medical schools have opened or may open across the country this year, the most since the 1960s and '70s. The proliferation of new schools is a market response to a rare convergence of forces: Growing population; the aging of the health-conscious baby-boom generation and the impending retirement of as many as a third of current doctors.

WIND

Canada expanded its wind power production in 2009 at a record pace, putting it among the top 10 countries that built new turbines in 2009, but it still supplies only one per cent of the total power produced in the country. The U.S. has the most wind farms, with Germany second, China third followed by Spain. In Canada, hydro-electric power still rules with 59 per cent of Canadian energy produced in this manner followed by nuclear energy. In Europe, burning coal is the most common power source.

CHEESE

Hard economic times has not put a hole in the global appetite for Swiss cheese as exports grew last year to record levels. Some 62,146 tonnes of hard and soft cheeses were exported, an increase of 1.6 per cent over the previous year. An increase in German, French and Italian demand offset a drop in the United States. Emmentaler cheese with its distinctive holes, remained the favourite, accounting for one kilo in three of Swiss cheese eaten abroad.

PORTS

As trade in the region grows more lucrative, China is spending millions on building new port facilities in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar. China recently became India's largest trading partner and both have worked together to advance similar positions in global trade. India and China are the world's two fastest growing economies. In the last 10 years, Chinese companies have become the biggest suppliers to ports of cranes used to move shipping containers, displacing South Korean and Japanese companies. It is estimated that China is involved in US$6-billion worth of projects in Sri Lanka.

COSTS

It used to be that a basic US$25 a month phone bill was the main telecommunications expense. But by 2004, the average American spent $770.95 annually on services like cable television, Internet connectivity and video games. By 2008, the figure rose to $903.00, outstripping inflation. By the end of this year, it is expected to have grown to $997.07. Add another $1000.00 or more for cellphone service and the average family is spending as much on devices as on dining out or buying gasoline.

AIR TRAVEL

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports that 2009 saw the biggest post-war decline in internationally scheduled air traffic. Passenger demand was down 3.5 per cent with an average load factor of 75.6 per cent. Freight showed a full-year decline of 10.1 per cent with an average load factor of 49.1 per cent. Carriers in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America all showed declines while carriers in the Middle East and Latin America both showed positive growth.

FLOWERS

Valentine's Day generates 12 per cent of annual sales of flowers in Columbia and employs 200,000 Colombians directly or indirectly. In order to meet demand on Valentine's Day, the Columbian industry dispatched 500-million flowers daily on 28 flights destined for international markets, particularly the United States, Canada and some European countries, primarily roses and farm-made bouquets. 80 per cent of all flowers imported by 43,000 florists and supermarkets come from Columbia.

SPENDING

In a down economy, women are more frugal than men. Research by a Toronto-based company reports that in a survey of more than 7,200 American consumers, 72 per cent of U.S. women cut their spending in 2009 compared with only 62 per cent of men. Only four out of 15 industry sectors were unaffected by gender differences in spending, with gas stations, bars, hotels and airlines having similar levels of reduced spending. Restaurants were the most affected by gender differences.

SEATS

Japan's Kioto Industries has admitted to fabricating safety data for seats in more than 1,000 aircraft used by 32 carriers. The company uses fake strength test data for more than 150,000 seats used in the Boeing and Airbus aircraft of customers including Air Canada, KLM, Scandinavian and Singapore Airlines. The company, an auto parts maker affiliated with Toyota, has been ordered to retest the products.

BRIDGES

Transport Canada is in talks to buy the Ambassador Bridge which spans the Detroit River to connect Windsor, Ontario with Detroit. If successful, Transport Canada says it would have no effect on plans for a new bridge further downriver. The Canadian government has purchased land from the city of Windsor to help build a new six-lane bridge. Officials have been working for years to add capacity at the busiest border crossing between Canada and the U.S., now served by the current bridge and a tunnel that runs under the river.

WINE

The first commercially-produced wine from grapes ripened in Scotland is to be launched, if there is enough sunshine. Wine has even been produced in the Outer Hebrides on the Isle of Lewis. Scientists predict that global warming will create a more favourable climate for making wine in Britain, including Scotland. There are already 416 vineyards in England and 2,732 acres of vines under cultivation, an increase of 45 per cent over the past four years.

SALARIES

Spain's government is using emergency legislation to rein in its air traffic controllers who earn up to US$1.3-million a year in a country suffering a recession and nearly 20 per cent unemployment. The controllers are technically civil servants but they signed an agreement in 1999 giving them autonomy and control over their salaries. The high annual salaries average over $541,000 and defeat the government's goal of cutting costs.

SOIL

An estimated 75-billion tonnes of soil is lost annually with more than 80 per cent of the world's farming land moderately or severely eroded. Soil in China is being lost 57 times faster than it can be replaced through natural processes. In Europe that figure is 17 times and in the United States 10 times and five times as much soil is being lost in Australia. A recent conference was told that world soil could vanish within 60 years if action is not taken.

INFLUENCE

Canada's influence in the world has worsened sharply in the past year in an international poll of 20,176 people in 20 countries suggests. Positive views of Canada fell most steeply in the U.S., Britain and China. This is the first time Canada's popularity among its major trading partners has declined since polling began in 2005. This deterioration could hurt Canada's business interests. Much of the decline is blamed on negative media coverage of Canada's environmental policies. However, in Indonesia, Russia and Germany, perceptions of Canadian influence has improved.

WASTE

Thirteen Spanish towns have bid to host a major new nuclear waste storage site, a long-delayed project that is fiercely opposed by environmentalists. Spain's six nuclear plants currently store their own spent fuel. The eventual location of the site is expected to cost US$1-billion and employ about 100 people when operational. The site will bring millions of euros in government subsidies to its host town.

LIQUOR

Americans' love affair with top-shelf liquor cooled last year as the recession took its toll on high-priced liquor. A new report shows people drank more but turned to cheaper brands. They also drank more at home and less in pricier bars and restaurants. Industry growth slowed in 2009 with the amount of liquor sold by suppliers up 1.4 per cent, the smallest increase since 2001 and below the 10-year average of 2.6 per cent. Vodka remained Americas favourite liquor accounting for almost a third of all spirit sold and sales of US$4.56-billion.

DIAMONDS

Canada is set to open its first official diamond trading marketplace in downtown Toronto, a move spurred by the rush in recent years to mine and market the homegrown stones nationally and worldwide. Both polished and rough stones will be bought and sold. There are 28 diamond bourses in places such as Belgium, Israel and South Africa. Diamonds were first discovered in Canada in 1991 and is now the third-largest producer of gem-quality stones. Canada now produces about 15 per cent of the world's annual rough diamonds.

GOLD

The world's gold mines increased production by 144 tonnes last year. This more than offset the drop in output in 2008 caused in part by a slump in production in Indonesia. China remains the largest gold producer accounting for 13 per cent of the world's supply in 2009. It produced half as much again as Australia, the next largest supplier.

CONSUMERS

Wielding buying power that will approach US$1-trillion this year, the 40-million strong African-American population is an important component of an economy increasingly dependent on the needs and preferences of multicultural shoppers. The African-American population isn't as large as the U.S.Hispanic market but the disposable personal income of both demographic groups is projected to trend comparably over the next five years.

COINS

The general manager of the Chilean mint has been dismissed after thousands of coins were issued with the name of the country spelled incorrectly. The coins were issued in 2008 but no one noticed the error until last year.

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

March 2010 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

March 2010 Edition

OECD

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, described as the most prestigious economic club in the world, has added Chile to its membership. The Paris-based OECD now with 31 members, is a research organisation that identifies economic benchmarks and promotes best practices in economies with strong free-market convictions. Twenty-one members are European countries; Japan and South Korea are the sole Asian members. Chile becomes only the second member, after Mexico, from South America and the Caribbean.

GAS

The volume of greenhouse gases emitted by 40 industrialized countries that report under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change increased by 1% in 2007. Between 1990 and 2007 emissions fell by 4% in these countries. Control of gas varied widely over the period with Spain increasing by 53%, but in Germany falling by 23%. Britain's switch from coal to gas-fired power stations has helped its green credentials, Countries with significant primary industries, such as mining and forestry tend to emit far greater quantities of greenhouse gases. Australia's emissions are far greater than France, for example, even though France has a much larger economy.

TVs

Power-hungry TVs will be banned from store shelves in California after state regulators adopted a first-in-the-nation mandate to reduce electricity demand. The Energy Commission requires all new televisions up to 58 inches to be more energy efficient beginning in 2 011. The requirement will be tougher in 2013 with only a quarter of all TVs currently on the market meeting that standard. It is estimated that TVs account for 10% of a home's electricity use and the concern is that the energy draw will rise by as much as 8% a year as consumers buy larger televisions.

SPICES

India exports about 180 varieties of spices to over 150 countries around the world. Mint products account for the bulk of spice exports followed by chilies, oils, oleoresins and pepper. East Asia is the biggest buyer in value terms with 41% followed by the U.S with 21%. In 2002-2003 India's total exports of spices was 264,107 tonnes valued at US$432-million. In 2008-2009, exports touched 470,520 tonnes worth $1.168-billion. India's Spice Board has set an export goal of $10-billion by 2017 and is eyeing South America to boost exports.

SINKINGS

Processing and safely storing waste from the chemical, pharmaceutical and other industries can cost hundreds, even thousands, of dollars per ton which makes illegal disposal highly profitable. In the Mediterranean, 39 ships were wrecked under questionable circumstances between 1979 and 1995. An average of two ships a year suspiciously disappeared in the Mediterranean during the 1980s and early 1990s and the number has increased to nine wrecks per year since 1995. The increase in the frequency of wrecking, correlates with the progressive tightening of international dumping regulations.

SAVINGS

Pension funds in the OECD had a bad time, losing over 20% of their value between the end of 2007 and the end of 2008. Funds heavily invested in equities such as those in Ireland and Australia proved particularly vulnerable. The big rally last year allowed some of the losses to be recouped in the first half of 2009 but there is still a long way to go.

PIRACY

Armed robbery and piracy against ships surged nearly 39% in 2009 to a total of 406 incidents around the world. The sharp increase has been attributed to attacks by Somali pirates which accounted for 217 incidents, nearly double the previous year's figure and over half the world's total.

CARS

U.S. luxury-car sales, once considered resistant to recessions, have plunged 40% over the past two years compared with the overall market's drop of 35%. Premium car makers are hoping to revitalize sales with a slew of new or refreshed models, many of them featuring high-end safety features. The used-car market is proving to be an unexpected boon where many luxury-car buyers are turning to replace or buy models they prefer rather than downsize to a new but less-expensive vehicle.

TECHNOLOGY

Pharmaceutical firms are embracing the "smart-pill" technology. Proteus technology enables pills to relay data about a patient back to doctors after they have been swallowed. Another company has an intelligent pill which can be delivered at precisely the right spot in the digestive tract. A cap for pill bottles has been developed that telephones a patient if they fail to take their medicine on time. The technology should be lucrative for all concerned as drug firms currently lose billions of dollars in sales from patients on long-term prescriptions who do not take their pills.

COMMODITIES

By the end of last year, metals prices had more than doubled from the depths of December 2008. Demand was fuelled by emerging economies many of which saw dramatic growth last year. Copper prices rose more than 150% last year and sugar prices more than doubled as a poor harvest in India, the world's biggest consumer, caused it to turn to imports to meet demand. Prices for rubber, nickel, platinum and aluminum also increased significantly.

HANDBAGS

New British research has found that the weight of handbags has dropped 57% in the last two years to 1.5 kilograms and that's with phones, keys, wallets etc included. Between 2006 and 2007 the average weight was 3.5 kilograms. The introduction of multipurpose devices such as the iPhone and Blackberry have helped lower the weight. Handbag makers are also using leathers that are 20% to 40% lighter than skins used several years ago.

PHARMACIES

A recent study shows that Canada has 8,214 licensed community pharmacies (ones not located in hospitals) and 31,284 licensed pharmacists of which 22,000 work in community pharmacies, About 80% of that 22,000 work in chain drug stores which fill about 80% of prescriptions. Generic drugs are used to fill 52% of prescriptions. Ontario has 2.88 pharmacies per 10,000 people compared to 1.46 for every 10,000 in the U.S.

AIRPORTS

China plans to build the world's highest airport in the Himalayan region of Tibet, at an elevation of nearly 4,500 metres. Construction of the airport, which will take three years, is to start next year at a cost of US$270-million and will be 230 kilometres north of the regional capital of Llasa.

BOOKS

Bookseller Barnes & Noble is launching a textbook rental program for college students. The new program, available through campus bookstores or websites began as a pilot program in three of its 636 campus bookstores last fall. It has now expanded to 25 bookstores. Books will rent for 42.5% of their original price for an entire term. College students spend about US$667 per year on required course materials.

ONLINE

Many major retailers are beefing up their web business to get some of the continuing growth online and to keep their sites competitive. They are adding millions of grocery and other products, new kinds of services and even alliances with rival retailers. It is expected that retailers will report that their total U.S. online for 2009 rose 11% to US$156-billion. But web sales remain a small fraction of U.S. commerce. Proctor & Gamble reports only $500-million of $79-billion, or 0.06% of annual sales, comes from online sales.

AGE

A United Nation report says that the elderly will outnumber children for the first time in 2045, increasing demand on nursing homes and increasing the burden on working-age people to support retirees. The proportion of the world's population older than 60 years will reach 22 per cent over the next four decades from 11 per cent in 2009 and eight per cent in 1950.

SPYING

The war between the U.S. and its former cold war adversaries has moved to cyberspace. In the new cyber war, the targets are U.S. companies as much as embassies or spy services because corporations hold giant repositories of sensitive information that can be easier to crack. Companies are responding in kind, often launching their own intelligence operations to counter the spies. Russian hackers have specialized in tapping bank accounts, holding personal computers for ransom and selling stolen U.S. government information. Attacks by China on defense contractors have intensified in the last 18 months.

SMOKED

The European Union Food Safety Authority (EFSA) says one of the flavourings used to give smoke flavour to meat, cheese or fish may be toxic to humans. The authority looked at 11 smoke flavourings used in the EU and says several are dangerously close to levels which may cause harm to humans.

SOLAR

The technology behind solar energy is constantly evolving. Portable devices that charge up gadgets from the sun are becoming smaller and more powerful. A new generation of portable solar chargers can plug straight into a laptop and provide up to a quarter of the power needed while in use. There has been a steady growth in the UK of small-scale electricity production at home in recent years and in 2008 this figure doubled.

HEIGHT

In recent years Dubai has grabbed the headlines with audacious offshore islands and rotating buildings. Now it has opened the world's tallest tower, Burj Dubai. At more than 800 metres, twice the height of the Empire State Building, you can see its spire from 95 kilometres away and the exterior is covered in 28,000 glass panels. The design of the building posed unprecedented technical and logistical challenges, not just because of its height, but also because Dubai is susceptible to high winds and is close to a geological fault line.

CARP

The Great Lakes are threatened by the voracious Asian carp that have evaded poisoning, lock gates and hi-tech electronic barriers as they have penetrated thousands of miles of American rivers and canals devouring much of the food in their path. Now, the silver and bighead carp, originally from Taiwan, are facing the might of the U.S. army in a last ditch effort to prevent them from reaching the world's largest fresh water system, the Great Lakes and their connecting rivers that straddle the Canadian border which could threaten the region's US$7-billion fishing industry.

STUDENTS

Foreign students flock to the U.S. from all over the world. According to the OECD, over 40% of the 106,123 foreign students in the country during the 2007-2008 academic year came from just three Asian countries: China, India and South Korea. China sent 23,779 students and India and South Korea about 10,000 each By contrast the European presence on American campuses has grown more slowly. But between them, Germany, France and Italy send more students to the U.S. than did either India or South Korea.

OPPORTUNITIES

In Manchester and London, the Holiday Inn hotel chain is trying out human bed warmers. The walking electric blankets dressed in special all-in-one sleeper suits are sent to warm the beds of guests for five minutes.

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