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The category of sanitary protection saw a 2% increase in current value sales in 2011, resulting in a total of EUR5 million. Considering that volume sales growth of sanitary protection excluding intimate wipes was half a percentage point, most of the increase in value sales is explained by the unit price increase and the enhanced purchasing power of Estonian women that allows them to purchase higher-quality products. Although the female population aged 10-54 declined by 1% in 2011, according to...

Total unit volumes of canned/preserved food grew by 2% in 2011 over the previous year (reaching 1.6 billion packaging units), which is higher than the CAGR of 1% registered for packaging volumes in this category during the review period. In 2011 canned/preserved fruit was the category which showed the fastest unit volume growth, up by 6% to reach 427 million packing units. Canned/preserved ready meals performed the worst with unit volumes of packaging declining by 3% in 2011 to 41 million...

Innovation is a key driver of growth for air care; hence manufacturers are investing large sums on research and development in order to create products that stimulate consumer demand. Air Wick from Reckitt Benckiser for instance, secured good results over 2010-2011 despite the recession due to the launch of ground breaking products, such as Air Wick Aqua Mist, Air Wick Spiral Ribbon and Air Wick Touch of Luxury in September 2010.

The 2012 pipeline shows continued strong interest in immunotherapy, which makes up 43% of products in development. Advancements in clinical trials and key partnerships are increasing exposure of this class. In this largely stable market, areas of innovation exist with nasal antihistamine/corticosteroid combinations showing progress, while a number of novel targeted therapies raise skepticism.

Despite rising competition from imports, the industry is set to experience modest growth due to a large proportion of the population participating in sports and increased health consciousness. Furthermore, as the economy increasingly improves, downstream demand from sporting goods retailers will revive, stimulating demand for manufacturers.

The Dentists industry is resilient and expected to benefit from improving dental care insurance coverage. The industry performed well during the economic recession and is expected to continue benefiting from favorable demographic trends, improvements in technology and mounting awareness of the importance of oral hygiene. In contrast, the cost of dental education has soared, weighing down dental graduates with debt that has hindered them from starting practices. Rapid advancements in technology are also making it very expensive to outfit a dental office. These factors have led to the growth of dental management practice companies, which reduce overhead.

While adverse conditions have plagued the industry in recent years, demand for golf courses and country clubs will return, as participation increases. As more baby boomers reach retirement and demand for golfing increases, the industry will experience modest growth. Nevertheless, improved demand will heighten competition among operators, and demand for other outdoor sporting activities will likely limit growth.

According to current insight from CONAPESCA (National fishing commission) seafood has the lowest consumption frequency compared to food categories such as poultry and eggs, or red meat. Seafood is mainly purchased in street markets, because it is perceived to be fresher. Consumers are more familiar with species such as shrimps, and fish: Huachinango, sierra and mojarra; favouring their consumption. Fish and seafood are perceived as healthy but also expensive. High prices hold back consumption.

Total volume and current value sales growth rates for personal care appliances in 2011 were down on 2010. This slowdown was partly due to increasing maturity, particularly in the largest category of hair care appliances. The slowdown was also attributable to signs that the French economy was slipping back into recession, which led some consumers to reduce non-essential spending.

There were no visible new developments seen in delivery formats, materials or packaging in wound care in 2011, nor did any new players enter. As usage is incident-based, key companies opted not to invest in advertising and marketing activities and instead focused on expanding their distribution, in order to improve availability across the country and serve more consumers in need of these products.

In 2011 Kazakh consumers continued to buy automatic washing machines. This contributed to a rise in demand for the laundry care products produced for such machines. Liquid detergents and fine fabric detergents, which were also largely comprised of products for automatic washing, also contributed to growth, rising by 24% and 15% in value terms respectively in 2011.

BMI View: Subdued oil demand growth means the prospects for refiners and fuels distributors are poor, with many already facing strong competition. The purchase and reopening of Petroplus' Antwerp plant should reduce downstream uncertainty. The gas market has greater potential, both in terms of rising domestic demand and the scope to re-sell surplus LNG through regional pipeline links. The market is mature, meaning there is a risk that leading industry players may divest as they seek higher growth and wider margins elsewhere.

The Taiwan Real Estate report examines the Commercial Office, Retail and Industrial segments throughout the state in the context of the country's exported economy, which is particularly susceptible to global economic dynamics.

As NATO's only Muslim member, and occupying a unique geographical position at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Turkey's defence and security situation has great strategic importance to all of these regions and to the wider world. BMI's Defence and Security report examines Turkey's armed forces; its internal and external security challenges; defence industry and the country's defence procurement activity. BMI believes that Turkey will continue to suffer security challenges for some time in the form of the continued Kurdish nationalist insurgency affecting the country, and from the wider fallout from the tense security situation in the Middle East at large. Nevertheless, the country's armed forces will continue to play an active role in NATO and meet any future challenges to Turkey's security.

The Thailand Tourism Report examines the enormous long-term potential of the country's tourism market, but raises short-term concerns about the impact of slowing tourist arrivals as a result of a deteriorating economic environment in Europe and North America.

As emerging Asian markets grew more affluent, there was an increase in demand for travel products and luxury goods. Increasingly, more and more people from China, India and Indonesia are travelling abroad. Many of them were attracted to Singapore by the wide variety of shopping centres and luxury goods available as more international brands enter the country. As China, India and Indonesia are among the main inbound source countries for Singapore, the increase in arrivals and tourist receipts

There is not much to separate Australia's three main ports by way of tonnage throughput, with the Port of Brisbane set to lead the way in 2012. This scenario is set to change by the end of 2014, when Melbourne is expected to take top spot. Box throughput sees the Port of Melbourne retaining its position in first place, ahead of the domestic competition, which is led by second-placed Sydney. In terms of annual growth, it is the Port of Sydney that is set to record the highest rate with a forecast 4.8% increase this year.

BMI View: At the time of writing the energy and macroeconomic dilemmas facing Japan are getting starker each day, with public opinion over nuclear power remaining hostile, despite the country's fuel import costs soaring as nuclear generation dwindles to become non-existent. Compelling macroeconomic arguments dictate that the country speeds up the process of safety checks put in place after March 2011's Fukushima disaster; however, it remains to be seen whether the Japanese government is prepared to take the political heat from restarting nuclear plants. BMI believes that pressures from the industry and economic concerns will prevail. However, we expect that it will take a while longer for any nuclear plant to resume generating, with the crisis and the damage inflicted on Japan likely to drag on for at least part of 2012's summer.

Since our last update, reports on Malaysia's real estate sector remain stable, suggesting the country is performing well compared to its regional peers, and even larger markets like the US. Our latest round of in-country interviews (conducted in December 2011) suggest that the market is not yet saturated, and investment may continue to increase as players look to more stable markets than the US and eurozone.

BMI View: A severe infrastructure deficit and the number of projects currently underway in Angola - particularly in the transport and the housing sectors - mean we are optimistic with regard to sustained growth in the country's construction industry. We forecast average annual real growth of 13.5% between 2012 and 2016, the highest in the region.

Latest subscriber data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Chinese operators - China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom - indicated that the industries' growth trajectories are on track to meet our expectations through 2016.

Following a year which BMI believes saw growth in all freight modes but one, 2012 will signal a slowdown, with moderate decrease in Hungary's freight volumes as the country is projected to dip back into recession.

BMI View: Over the recent years, India's commercial banks have substantially increased their exposure to the country's power sector. While it may be a prudent move given the long-term energy needs of the second most populous country in the world, we highlight that over the short term, banks with a particularly heavy exposure to the power sector will likely underperform given the various difficulties the entire sector is currently facing (such as the current shortage of coal). Over the past few years, we have witnessed a strong discernable trend in India's commercial banks - that of increasing exposure to the country's power sector. As seen from the accompanying chart, credit to the sector (as a percentage of total credit to industries) has skyrocketed to 17.0% as of December 2011, from a low of 10.5% in August 2008. While the growth of credit to the sector has slowed significantly since peaking in January 2010 (at 58.7% y-o-y), we note that it still remains considerably elevated, with the latest figure showing growth of 28.2% in December. The total amount of outstanding credit to the sector stood at INR3,154.4bn by the end of last year - approximately four times more than the amount in mid- 2007. To be sure, India's hunger for energy suggests to us that the banks' increasing exposure to the power sector should pay off over the long run. Indeed, our infrastructure team projects electricity generation to grow at an average annual rate of 6.7% over the next decade (2012-2021), a few percentage points higher than the 5.6% average growth rate achieved over the past ten years. Similarly, the team expects electricity India Commercial Banking Report Q2 2012 © Business Monitor International Ltd Page 32 consumption to increase at an average clip of 6.8% annually from 2012 to 2021, which again, represents a slight increase from the consumption growth recorded over the preceding decade. Harmful Over The Short Term Having said that, over the short term, we believe that rapid increase in exposure could play out negatively, given the difficulties that the power sector is currently facing. According to our infrastructure team, one of the key issues that continue to place pressure on the sector's margins is the shortage of coal, due primarily to lacklustre domestic production. Therefore, power companies have had to rely more on expensive imports to compensate for the domestic shortfall. Adding this to the relative inelasticity of electricity prices, it is unsurprising that production shortfalls and power project delays remain extensive. Furthermore, India's business environment continues to cause problems, with bureaucratic inefficiencies, policy uncertainty, and environmental concerns (in particular, the adverse public opinion towards nuclear power). As such, the risk of repayment delays and bad debts remain acute. Net income margins of Adani Power, Tata Power, and NTPC have already been falling. Exposure Spread Out We note th

GlobalData's report, Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) Industry Outlook in Mexico to 2016 - Market Size, Company Share, Price Trends, Capacity Forecasts of All Active and Planned Plants provides an in-depth coverage of Mexico ABS industry. The research presents major market trends affecting the ABS industry in Mexico. The report covers Mexico ABS plants and presents installed capacity by key feedstock, process and technology. In addition, it presents ABS demand and production forecasts, end use demand forecasts, price trends, trade balance data and company shares of the major ABS producers in Mexico. Overall, the report presents a comprehensive coverage of Mexico ABS industry including all the major parameters.

GlobalData's report, Propylene Oxide (PO) Industry Outlook in Japan to 2016 - Market Size, Company Share, Price Trends, Capacity Forecasts of All Active and Planned Plants provides an in-depth coverage of Japan PO industry. The research presents major market trends affecting the PO industry in Japan. The report covers Japan PO plants and presents installed capacity by key feedstock, process and technology. In addition, it presents PO demand and production forecasts, end use demand forecasts, price trends, trade balance data and company shares of the major PO producers in Japan. Overall, the report presents a comprehensive coverage of Japan PO industry including all the major parameters.