ReleaseWire

The demand for natural and healthy fruit/vegetable juice continued to increase in Norway. In 2011, total volume sales rose by 2% wile total current value sales grew by 3%. 100% juice, which is perceived as healthier and more natural by Norwegian consumers, recorded the strongest growth, at the expense of juice drinks (up to 24% juice) and nectars (25-99% juice), but also, to some extent, non-cola carbonates, flavoured bottled water and liquid concentrates. Most new product development in 2011...

Sales of sports and energy drinks continued their weak performance in 2011. Although these beverages are popular among mainly young consumers, the weak economic situation and the high unit prices of sports and energy drinks compared with other more traditional non-alcoholic beverages, such as juices, continued to be the main reasons for this situation. Young adults and teenage consumers predominate in this category and older Portuguese consumers tend to be quite conservative in terms of trying...

Sales in the category are boosted by impulsive buying. Boxed facial tissues became a favourite among car owners. Long hours spent in traffic in a hot climate favoured sales, facilitated by hawkers who used the opportunity of impulse spending to offer the product. In addition, the growing population with its emerging middle class, has maintained demand for tissue. This created an opportunity for retailers that expanded into residential areas, increasing accessibility to product variety with...

French men continued to be increasingly interested in fashion, especially amongst the younger generations. Indeed, they showed similar behaviour to women for clothing, paying more attention to their appearance, shopping for clothes and accessories and regularly changing their wardrobe. Men also buy their own clothes while in the past there were a higher percentage of men who had their clothes bought for them by women. These consumers tend to be more focused on brands and on fashion, while women...

While overall clothing in France suffered from the poor economy and from consumers reducing their purchases in terms of apparel, current value sales of underwear, nightwear and swimwear continued to perform well in 2011. This can be explained by the fact that underwear, which represents the largest value share of 63%, remained an important item of the French wardrobe which local consumers, women in particular, do not want to compromise on.

Value sales of baby and child-specific products declined by 1% in 2011. According to Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan's birth rate has been on a downward trend since 1973. Although the rate of decline became moderate during the 1990s, babies born in 2010 are 10% fewer than those in 2000. With fewer babies born, volume of baby and child-specific products declined, negatively affecting value sales in 2011.

Vitamins and dietary supplements is one of the fastest growing categories in consumer health as a whole. Such products are widely available in retail outlets, including regular retail channels, such as supermarkets, independent small grocers, and open markets. There is also strong marketing and promotion by major players.

NRT smoking cessation aids increased in value by 3% in 2011 thanks to rising demand for NRT gum and NRT patches. As the number of South Koreans attempting to give up smoking increased in 2011, demand for NRT smoking cessation aids also increased. NRT smoking cessation aids retail value sales increased to Won10.9 billion, with NRT gum and NRT patches remaining the dominant categories.

This report outlines the current state of the global dairy market and maps out growth opportunities in both emerging and developed markets. It analyses a range of macroeconomic and socio-demographic factors, and their impact on consumers spending patterns and consumer market categories. The report studies a range of company initiatives and new product developments, both for tackling hurdles in the way of emerging market expansion and finding niche opportunities in mature dairy markets.

The Philippines Retail Report examines the long-term potential of the local consumer market, but flags short-term concerns about the impact on the Philippines' economic outlook of the government's continued inability to promote growth-positive initiatives.

BMI View: Over the medium term, Mexico will continue with efforts to boost its renewable power generating capabilities in line with new legislation which calls for non-fossil fuels to account for 35% of the country's energy mix by 2024. Substantial growth in wind power looks set to continue, with Marena Renovables planning to build Latin America's largest wind farm in the country. Moreover, after a slow start, there is potential for greater foreign interest in solar power. Growth of hydroelectric power generation will likely be comparatively subdued due to local opposition and an already high base level that leaves less room for additional expansion.

BMI View: Iraq has the greatest potential for oil production growth in the Middle East region. BMI believes that potential exists for almost 8mn barrels per day (b/d) of crude output by the end of the forecast period in 2021. This falls short of government expectations and the combined capability of all projects involving international oil company (IOC) partners. However, likely project slippage, technical difficulties, political instability, infrastructure lag and OPEC production policy are all issues that provide risks to the downside against the most optimistic projections.

The latest Algeria Petrochemicals Report examines the potential for the petrochemicals industry in the context of future investment in upstream sectors, but warns that growth could be undermined by the poor investment climate and delays that are leading to an escalation in costs.

During 2011, tourism flows outbound in Russia generated almost double the number of trips than tourism flows inbound as each category registered rapid double-digit growth rates. Many inbound visitors-especially those from countries outside of the CIS region and Baltic States-still perceive Russia as a mysterious and dangerous destination and its two largest cities Moscow and St Petersburg have well-earned reputations as expensive places to visit. In addition, the majority of Russians prefer...

With a well-developed hotel and transportation infrastructure, Las Vegas is still struggling to recover in the face of a depressed economic environment, limited spending and increased competition. However, travel and tourism authorities believe it is a matter of time for the city destination to see a full rebound. Future expectations rely on attracting high-spending international and business tourists and keeping fresh its entertainment choices year round.

BMI View: Yemen's construction and infrastructure sector continues to struggle with the sector forecast to contract further in 2012. The industry value is set to shrink with year on year (y-o-y) growth of -4.5% this year. This will see the industry value stand at US$1.4bn in 2012. Growth is set to return over the forecast period with industry value expected to rise to US$2.4bn by 2016.

Despite the fact that Greece's economy is set to remain in recession for its fourth consecutive year, contracting by 6.9%, BMI is forecasting double digit growth at the main operations of Greece's two main ports.

In 2011, as the economy recovered, middle- to low-income consumers started to spend more on furniture and furnishings. The continued expansion by chained furniture and furnishings retailers especially by the opening of larger stores such as the recent opening of two Kitea Geant outlets by Kitea SA and Mobilia Megastore by Mobilia SA also contributed to significantly better growth for overall furniture and furnishings stores in 2011 compared with the previous year.

The Port of Riga is set to hold the top position in Latvia's maritime sector in terms of both total tonnage and container throughput in 2012 following another year of robust growth in 2011.

BMI View: Argentina's unsustainable macroeconomic trajectory will continue to pose moderate risks to the country's commercial banking sector. While low levels of penetration suggest financial institutions have great potential for growth in the country, we believe double-digit inflation and the Argentine government's interventionist policies will continue to undermine the industry's performance in the short term. As we have repeatedly highlighted, the Argentine banking sector continues to be characterized by significant untapped potential, and remains a regional laggard by conventional metrics. Banking sector assets as a percentage to GDP declined to 36.7% in December 2011, from 39.1% in January 2011. The ratio is well below the 50% to 60% levels reached in 2002 and 2003, and is one of the lowest among major economies in the region, compared to Brazil's 131.6%, Chile's 111.0%, and Colombia's 53.6%. Government The Main Player While financial services penetration remains low, client loans continued to expand at record levels in 2011, posting y-o-y growth rates between 42.3% and 52.2% throughout 2011, mostly due to an increase in lending to the private sector, which now represents roughly 45% of total bank assets, compared to just Argentina Commercial Banking Report Q2 2012 © Business Monitor International Ltd Page 28 33% at the end of 2006. Lending to companies was a key driver of the observed expansion in credit, accounting for more than 61% of the increase in total credit to the private sector over the first nine months of 2011. Despite this increase, client loans per capita in Argentina remained at US$1,600 at the end of 2011, a fraction of Brazil's US$8,500 and Chile's US$10,000. In order to encourage the use of banking services, the Argentine authorities have adopted measures such as a reduction in the cost of bank transfers, the introduction of the Free Universal Account (CGU), and new guidelines for the authorization of branch openings. According to the new guidelines, which were introduced at the end of 2010, while reviewing application for new branches in areas of the country that are well-supplied with financial services, the Central Bank will assign priority to those applications that simultaneously include requests for branch openings in areas where the penetration of financial services is particularly low. Despite the efforts from the authorities, we believe one of the main obstacles to a greater penetration of banking services in the country stems from the macroeconomic imbalances that have emerged over the past few years. Annual inflation above 20% will continue to make peso-denominated deposits unattractive. At the same time, however, access to foreign-currency assets has become increasingly difficult, leaving some Argentineans with no choice but to invest in anything from real estate to secondhand cars to protect the value of their savings. Moreover, we highlight that much of the new credit has come from public banks, rather than p

The spa theme in bath and shower established itself as a sustainable trend over the review period. Manufacturers and distributors of body wash/shower gel, bath foam/gel and soaps use the spa theme for many new products. Many of them also use natural ingredients in line with the trend. The basic assumption is that spa procedures are healthy and good for the skin, relieve stress and are a break from normal personal care routines. This is why manufacturers are trying to provide ways to recreate...

BMI View: Uninitiated pharmaceutical firms and medical device companies will find Central America a challenging, but ultimately rewarding proposition. Industrial action is common, procurement is inefficient and healthcare policy implementation is often delayed. Positive aspects include increasing government commitment to the provision of medical services, improving regulations and increasing investment by multinational firms.

This analysis evaluates the company's strategy and key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and provides an overview of the company's biosimilars portfolio, including analysis of key product profiles, examining key drivers and resistors to development, market sizing, specifics of development such as clinical trials (where available) for each key biosimilar molecule in development.