WINE MARKET

In Canada wine sales have surpassed those of spirits for the first time.

The Canadian wine industry underwent a significant transformation in the late 1980s and early 1990s as growers introduced wine quality grapes to replace the native Labrusca grape.

Between 1997 and 2005 the industry's real GDP grew at an average 7.1% as opposed to 3.0% for Canadian industry as a whole.

Statistics Canada reports that the value of wines sold in 2005 surpassed the value of spirits for the first time but at 25.2% still lagged beers which represented 50.4% of the alcoholic beverage market.

GAMES HARDWARE

ASIA: Wii's success drives Nintendo's market capitalisation.

Both Microsoft and Sony have cut the price of their core consoles in the US market. The various formats of the Xbox will see discounts of between $20 and $50.

These moves are in part spurred by the availability of the cheaper Nintendo Wii.

The Wii is outselling Sony's Playstation 3 by a factor of six in the Japanese market and a factor of 2 in the USA. This success resulted in Nintendo's market capitalisation outstripping Sony's in July 2007.

GAMBLING MARKETS

EUROPE: Television advertising by gambling companies deregulated by the 2005 Gambling Act.

The Gambling Act 2005 which comes into force on 1 September 2007 contains a number of provisions, key amongst which is the deregulation of television advertising.

Gambling companies will be able to broadcast advertisements after 9pm; sports betting advertisements will be permitted during sporting events broadcast before this watershed.

However, the Act only applies to companies based in the European Economic Area, Gibraltar or a 'white-list' of other approved domiciles. Key centres of online gambling activity such as Costa Rica and Antigua have not yet applied to join the 'white-list'.

The measures have been criticised by the Royal College of Psychiatrists as a 'recipe for disaster'.

EGGS MARKETS

AMERICAS: As the size of flocks increase, consumption declines.

Before WWII the majority of egg producers in the USA had flocks of less than 400 hens. Technological developments in the 1960s predicated the shift to large commercial farms.

There are presently 64 companies with more than a million layers and 11 with more than 5 million

Per capita egg consumption peaked at 405 in 1945, nearly 60% higher than current levels. The industry believes the explanation for the decline lies in life style changes and health concerns.

DAIRY PRODUCTS

EUROPE: Rising global milk price has varied causes and effects.

The benchmark price for skimmed milk powder in the UK has risen by 60% in the last six months. The reasons behind this increase are manifold and include factors such as the price of milk falling below the cost of production in the UK resulting in a 50% decline in the number of dairy farmers over the past ten years; severe draught in Australia impacting production and rising demand from China where consumption is predicted to further expand by 15% for the next three years.

The effect of these price rises feeds through not only into the market for pure dairy products such as milk, cheese and butter but also to products which incorporate them e.g. chocolate, cakes and pizzas.

RETAILING

EUROPE: Weather and interest rate rises impact UK retailers.

The BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor for July 2007 shows that UK retail sales rose 1.2% on a like-for-like basis compared with July 2006 when sales rose 3.4%. The current rate of growth was half that experienced in the second quarter of 2007 and the slowest since November 2006.

In contrast to July 2006 which is reported as the hottest on record this July was one of the wettest. Comparisons are also impacted by the occurrence of the World Cup. Sales of food, clothing, footwear, DIY and gardening equipment have suffered whilst department stores and out-of-town shopping centres have benefited from being shelters from the frequent storms.

COAL MINING

EUROPE: Poland plans flotation in coal mining industry.

Poland's Deputy Economy Minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski announced in late July that the government could list state-controlled coalminer Katowicki Holding Weglowy (KHW) on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in late autumn 2008. The funds raised in the IPO would be used to finance investment in the company's facilities.

It is planned that other companies in the sector would subsequently be privatised although the government would retain control over the listed entities.

RETAILING

AMERICAS: E-commerce technology spend focused on systems and applications.

In a recent editorial the trade journal ''Online Retailer'' reported that online retailers are spending more on systems and applications as slower sales growth focuses attention on customer retention.

Leading online retailers are now spending between 4% and 11% of their sales revenue on e-commerce technology whereas the figure averaged 3% a decade ago. More specifically the top ten quoted retailers who derived all, or a majority of, their revenues online spent an average 7.7% which is an increase of 54.8%.

PORTS

ASIA: The Port of Rotterdam advises the Indian Ports Association.

The Port of Rotterdam was commissioned about a year ago by the Indian Ports Association to offer strategic advice to the major Indian ports.

Their key recommendations were the delegation of power downwards from the Ministry of Shipping to the individual ports and from senior management to executives within organisations.

The report also suggested that investment in mechanised cargo handling rather than increasing the number of berths would lead to economic efficiencies.

Further recommendations were for increased outsourcing and the development of transport connectivity's which would facilitate the offer of total transport solutions to clients.

MEDIA

EUROPE: The winds of change are blowing through the French business press.

Bernard Arnault's LVMH is in exclusive talks to buy Les Echos from Pearson Plc and has, according to Reuters, made an offer of 250 million Euro's.

Arnault currently owns the loss-making La Tribune and its journalists fear that if he acquired its rival he would divest La Tribune in such a manner that its future would be threatened. Financier Vincent Bolloré has declared his interest in acquiring it.

In common with their counterparts at Dow Jones the French journalists are also concerned that their newspapers' new ownership would threaten editorial independence. Christine Albanel, the French culture minister, said that the government would examine the competition implications of a sale of either or both newspapers.