ReleaseWire

BikerLeathers.ca, Canada’s largest retailer of top quality cruiser, sportbike, motocross and snowmobile gear, recently doubled its number of in-store employees.

This report provides readers with a comprehensive analysis of the Military Infrastructure and Logistics market through 2011-2021, including highlights of the demand drivers and growth stimulators for Military Infrastructure and Logistics. It also provides an insight on the spending pattern and modernization pattern in different regions around the world.

Automotive Manufacturing - Top 5 Emerging Markets Industry Guide is an essential resource for top-level data and analysis covering the Automotive Manufacturing industry in each of the Top 5 Emerging markets (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa). The report includes easily comparable data on market value, volume, segmentation and market share, plus full five year market forecasts. It examines future problems, innovations and potential growth areas within the market.

The Colombian non-life insurance segment demonstrated strong growth during the review period. This was largely generated from the impressive growth of the motor insurance category, which benefited from the country's rising automobile sales and compulsory third-party liability motor insurance. The Colombian government is planning to triple its current investment on infrastructure by 2014. This investment will be spent on developing roads, buildings, energy and transportation, and will provide opportunities for commercial property and motor insurance providers to capitalize on over the forecast period.

The personal accident and health insurance segment accounted for XX% of the total insurance industry written premiums in 2011, with a value of CLPXX billion (US$XX million). This segment recorded a CAGR of XX% during the review period.

During 2008-2009, the global financial crisis led to many independent lenders withdrawing from the capital market due to difficulties with regards to raising funds. The Australian construction industry faced the specific challenge of increasing costs when obtaining debt financing. Consequently, the industry's growth rate declined in 2009 compared with 2008. However, the announcement of stimulus packages in the 2009-2010 budget had a positive impact on many areas of the economy. Notably, the schools building package provided support to the institutional construction market during a time when obtaining finance was problematic. The Australian government is anticipated to spend a significant sum on improving the education system over the next three-years under the Building Education Revolution (BER) scheme.

Datamonitor foresees rising competition in the Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis markets over the next five years. Several pipeline and marketed drugs are competing to garner patient share from dominant brand Remicade (infliximab; Janssen Biotech/Merck & Co./Mitsubishi Tanabe). High unmet need for an efficacious maintenance therapy appears to be a key driver for these products.

BMI View: We have revised down our production forecast for wheat and barley as dry weather conditions have reduced yields for the 2012/13 season. However, we expect the country to have a strong export capacity, thanks to high stocks and another good production balance. We reiterate our view for strong growth potential for the livestock sector in Kazakhstan thanks to ongoing government support as well as renewed private sector interest, as the recent US$108mn investment by Israeli technology provider, MAD Corporation, to build five large poultry farms in the north of the country shows.

BMI's Q312 report on Japan's telecommunications market provides a comprehensive overview of the latest developments to occur within the country's mobile, fixed-line telephony and internet sectors. Japanese telecoms operators, the Telecommunications Carriers Association and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications have released data pertaining to the end of March 2012, which has allowed us to fine tune our forecasts.

BMI's Italy Defence & Security Report for Q312 examines the country's defence posture, defence procurement and defence industry. The report seeks to examine how the Italian government is attempting to balance the defence budget amid the sluggish performance of the country's economy.

BMI's France Defence and Security Report examines the country's strategic posture, its defence community, order of battle, and current and future procurement programmes.

The main story in 2011 was the effect of recurrent cholera epidemics on sales of bleach. The epidemics increased awareness among individuals as information campaigns launched by the Ministry of Health focused on hygiene and cleanliness in the home to prevent the disease. This trend was encouraged especially in rural areas where poor hygiene and lack of potable water are notable issues. The campaigns increased the popularity of bleach as a multifunctional product for cleaning, removing stains...

Oral care is still driven by innovation and by a strong level of advertising in 2011, particularly in whitening and tooth care. Brands and oral care professionals highly invested in advertising campaigns in order to promote oral hygiene and more technical and sophisticated ranges of products like electric toothbrushes, which broke all records in 2011. While innovation and advertising support did not seem to always bear fruits in other beauty and personal care categories due to increasingly...

Microwaves are the least expensive of all cooking appliances in South Africa. Only 36% of households are in possession of a microwave. In 2011, sales increased by 15%, mainly driven by price deflation through the reduction of import taxes. Microwaves achieved volume sales of over 1 million units in 2011 growing at a rate of 15%. Value sales, however, rose by only 4% compared to growth of 13% in the previous year, being driven down by price deflation and imports of cheaper microwaves.

Prolongation of the economic downturn in Spain and its effect on consumer disposable incomes and real estate had a significant negative impact on the demand for homewares products over 2011. Traditionally, Spanish consumers renew their homewares when moving into a new house, and the collapse of the real estate sector signified a lower demand for these products. In addition, decreasing disposable incomes are forcing Spanish consumers to prioritise on their expenditure, and they have become...

Although not part of traditional Pakistani cuisine, noodles has seen rapid growth over the review period and continues to be very popular as they are easy to prepare, come in appealing flavours, make for a filling snack/mini meal and are easily affordable. In increasingly busy urban lives, they serve as a quick and convenient mini meal. In semi-urban and rural parts too, noodles are a novel snack/meal, becoming increasingly common among children and the younger generation.

Plastic stand-up pouches is seeing strong growth in other hot drinks, expected to record a CAGR of 6% over the forecast period. However, this pack type still represents a very small figure in the overall other hot drinks packaging volume.

Germany's population continues to age, and with this development, since incontinence is strongly related to age, the demand for such products continued to rise strongly in 2011. It has been estimated that some eight million German people are currently affected by incontinence, with five million of these sufferers aged over 50. This suggests that it is not only the elderly who require incontinence products, as younger people are also affected by incontinence, which further boosts the growth...

BMI View: Production from oil sands will continue to drive Canada's oil production growth. However, exploration in Canada's offshore acreage and unconventional resources could prove-up more oil and gas reserves to support the country's long-term growth prospects. The outlook for Canada's oil and gas industry is still a rosy one, though Canada's upstream potential needs more support from infrastructure development.

BMI View: The advent of further political strife, relating to the presidential standoff between the military backed candidate Ahmad Shafiq and his Muslim Brotherhood opponent Mohammed Morsi, has undermined policy coherence as it relates to the country's most significant economic sector. Now that Morsi has been confirmed as president, one thing is clear; when it comes to Egypt's gas sector, domestic needs are going to take priority over exports, as the decision to end gas supplies to Israel confirms. This will inevitably affect the pricing climate for international oil companies operating in Egypt's gas sector, potentially making it more of a struggle to secure internationally competitive rates when selling gas.

The Brazil Tourism Report examines the significant long-term potential being offered by the local tourism industry, but flags short-term concerns about the lack of adequate airport infrastructure posing a challenge to the future development of air travel within the country.

The political situation in Bahrain remains fractious, as evidenced by the protests against the Formula One racing event in the country in April. Nevertheless, we forecast an economic expansion of 2.5% in 2012. Growth in volumes at the Khalifa bin Salman Port are forecast to exceed GDP growth, with container handling set to grow by 8.0%, supported by a strong household consumption outlook for the country. Whether the throughput demands the capacity of the facility however, much less a further expansion to 4mn twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), remains to be seen.

The Philippines' mining sector is set to rise in value from US$3.2bn in 2010 to US$7.8bn in 2016. We have a very positive overall outlook for the country's mining industry, but hold a cautious medium-term view regarding the country's political and security risks. We believe that the current Aquino administration is able to eventually overcome these shortcomings and can set the foundation for substantial growth in the future. President Aquino in late 2011 called for the creation of a new comprehensive national mining policy aimed at resolving current mining law problems.

The Slovenian Retail Report examines the long-term potential of the local consumer market, but flags short-term concerns about the impact on Slovenia's economic outlook of aggressive fiscal austerity, weak credit conditions and depressed domestic economic confidence.