ReleaseWire Connect

The Natural Gas Production and Distribution industry comprises businesses that transmit, distribute, and sell self-produced or purchased fuel gas. The production activities of this industry include coal gasification, petroleum cracking, gas extraction, and natural gas refinement. Natural gas mining, bottled petroleum gas retailing, and pipeline fuel gas transmission are not included in this industry.

The European tyre market faces one of the most significant changes in legislation for 50 years as of November 2012 which is set to cause shock-waves in the EU markets. By knowing the major manufacturers, the personnel, product portfolios and key information, business opportunities can be more easily identified and revenues increased.

Demand for industry products will be boosted by overall growth in downstream markets like food production, heavy industrial facilities construction and machinery manufacturing. However, manufacturers will be threatened by growing imports, with competition from Asian countries steadily increasing. Additionally, demand for petroleum-related products will likely diminish as a result of growing interest in green technologies.

Concentrates started losing popularity at the end of the review period after a 3-year continuous increase. The main reason was health issues and a negative perception of artificial sweeteners among consumers. Low-calorie concentrates continued to lose popularity at the advantage of natural ingredients, just like carbonates. An increasing number of consumers prefer healthier fruit/vegetable drinks instead.

After a slow pick up in the number of arrivals during 2010, 2011 saw very sluggish growth. This was mainly caused by the "Arab Spring", the Marrakech bombing and the euro crisis affecting the second half of 2011. Growth remained below 1%, with European and Western tourists avoiding the Middle East region for much of the year. This had an impact on Morocco due to its close proximity to Egypt and Libya. Morocco itself remained quiet, except for the bombing that occurred in Marrakech in April.

The wider provision of Sharia-compliant credit cards by banks, both Islamic and conventional, seems the most important factor that stimulated the market in 2011. This trend encouraged Saudi people who previously refused credit cards, to accept and use these cards. The Saudi nationals in general are heavily dependent on credit to finance their high spending and consumption but the relatively limited Islamic credit card options in the past were an obstacle to using credit cards. Islamic banks are.

During 2010, special premium beers and boutique beers continued to attract a lot of attention and to grow healthily. This was true for 2011 as well as Israeli consumers continued to seek more refined beers and were much more open to trying new and challenging beers rather than well-known beers. According to company sources, special premium beers such as stout, fruit, wheat, boutique and all other non-lager beers continue to account for a small percentage of beer sales in Israel in volume terms.

Pre-paid cards faced growing competition from other formats of contactless payment products towards the end of the review period. Mobile phone operator Orange notably launched Quick Tap in May 2011 in partnership with Barclaycard. This enables consumers to make purchases of up to GBP15 by tapping their mobile handset against a contactless reader, using a secure SIM-based form of mobile payments. The service is available on both pay-as-you-go and pay-monthly price plans. One of the most innovative...

In Japan, kampo products are the most well-known type of herbal medicine, and they usually contain several unrefined medications in raw or natural form to treat various symptoms. Widely available through drugstores and supermarkets, kampo has an established status in the OTC market as Category 2 drugs. Unlike herbal products typically classified as supplements in Western countries, kampo products are treated as legitimate medication and consumers view them as reliable solutions for illness.

Tinnitus is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound. There are various studies about tinnitus patients, and the number varies depending on research methods, but it is estimated that roughly 30% of population aged over 65 years old experience ringing in the ears at some point. However, only a fraction of those 30% suffer from chronic disturbance in the ear and the market for ear care saw declining sales with market saturation in 2011.