Moissanite is used as an alternative to diamond jewellery. It is regarded at par with the diamond when compared on the basis of quality and physical properties. Moreover, moissanite glitter more than diamond due to a higher refractive index and is as hard as diamond. A layman may barely distinguish between the two and mostly a distinction can be drawn through a laboratory test. However, the...

Animal feed is food for domesticated animals generally raised for milk, egg and meat. The global animal feed industry was estimated to be around $460 billion in 2016.  The animal feed industry has experienced a healthy growth in the past 5 years, riding on the back of an increase in animal products consumption globally. The Y-O-Y rise in animal products consumption can be attributed to...

The auto sales in the US grew at a CAGR of 7% between Sep. 2011 to Sep. 2016. In the same period, auto loan balance grew at a CAGR of 7.7%. The captive OEMs increased their share of retail loans on the back of subvention programs supported by their parent companies. The captive OEMs had the second highest share of total loan balance amounting nearly $250 billion in 2015. Televisory ...

Football aka soccer is the most played and watched sport in the world, with an estimated 3.5 billion viewers or fans. The sport is played by nearly 250 million players, in over 200 countries, in numerous domestic and international matches, making it the world's most popular game. Soccer players are treated as celebrities and statistically, they are the richest sportspersons on globe owing...

Summary The glass packaging industry has undergone a complete transformation in the past decade. The changes were marked by low demand growth due to the replacement of glass as a medium, the incremental demand being led by the non-traditional end-use and most importantly, regional displacement of demand. Although the growth of glass packaging at 0.8% was the lowest in the packaging...

Global air travel has immensely grown over the past decade and there are signs of continued expansion. The air connectivity was positively impacted by the increased growth of Middle East hub carriers. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that revenues increased to the US $746 billion (2014) from the US $369 billion (2004).  Thus, besides competition within...

The advancements in technology transformed repetitive human processes into cost-effective tasks, rapidly performed by machines. The fundamental purpose of technology is to improve productivity, generate increased or better quality output and reduce cost. The increase in productivity not only increases the overall growth, but also influences living standards, consumption and income per capita....

The mineral and metals processing industry machinery manufacturing companies supply a range of equipment and machinery such as heat exchangers, furnace, grinding mills to the mineral and metals processing companies. The former also provide installation and maintenance services over the life cycle of equipment and machinery to the mineral and metals processing industries. Thus, the performance...

The world is at dawn of a digital revolution. The emergence of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and Internet of Things (IoT) is fundamentally reshaping the human civilisation. Concurrently, its posing major challenges for businesses in terms of innovation, reskilling, development of new age products and solutions and most significantly survival in the...

The US and Brazil are the world’s largest ethanol fuel producer and together contribute around 85.1% of the global fuel ethanol production (2016). They are also the major fuel ethanol consumers globally due to the prominent use of ethanol, as a substitute for gasoline in these nations. The ethanol consumption accounts for roughly ~10% of total gasoline consumption in the US. Additionally,...

China is the world leader in yarn spinning with more than 250 million spindles and 35.38 million tonnes of production, and both cotton and polyester yarn being significant constituents. India is the 2 nd largest producer of yarn, with 50 million spindles and 0.75 million rotors. It produces 6.6 million tonnes of spun yarn, of which 61% is cotton yarn. The Indian government has been largely...

The market for smartphones has grown extremely competitive as manufacturers vie for a share of hearts, minds and wallets of consumers. This was traditionally dominated by Apple and Samsung, but Chinese smartphones have grown significantly and commanded a substantial portion of the global market. 9 out of the top 12 smartphone makers are Chinese. They are driven by favourable policies of the...

The world is increasingly becoming tech savvy, entering the digital age and this is a phase where kids can operate tablets better than the adults. Moreover, from the early 2000s not only millennials are living an electronic life but the EEE (Electrical and Electronic Equipment) has become prerequisites for the survival of an average person. But, what about the things that are discarded?...

In the contemporary world, China has attained a niche for online gaming with ‘role playing’ games acing the list of top grossing apps on Android and Apple store within the nation. The country has a netizen population of 700 million and the internet penetration was 51.7% in 2016 (Source: CNNIC Report 2016). This surpassed developed countries such as the US, Japan and UK in terms of gaming...

Beef accounts for 25% of the total meat consumption globally and hence, it is the third most widely consumed meat in the world. The beef production varies with season, domestic and international demand. The world beef production increased by a CAGR of 0.46% from 57.78 (million MT in 2006) to 60.48 (million MT in 2016), whereas world beef consumption increased by a CAGR of 0.3% from 56.99...

Poultry, which is also known as white meat is the second most consumed meat in the world accounting for 42.3% of the consumption globally. The total world poultry production increased at a CAGR of 3.2% from 65.41 (million MT in 2006) to 89.55 (million MT in 2016) and the world poultry consumption also increased in tandem at a CAGR of 3% from 65.28 (million MT in 2006) to 87.64 (million MT in...

Summary The for-profit institutions in the US are facing progressively tough legislative territory to operate. This is due to a slew of measures adopted by the US Department of Education (DoE) to weed out institutions providing sub-standard education as this results in high student loan debt against lower relative income. The situation resulted in high defaults on student loans and...

Pork, poultry and beef are the three most consumed meat types in the world. The global meat production has increased by a CAGR of 1.7% from 219 (million MT in 2006) to 258.2 (million MT in 2016), whereas global consumption has increased by a CAGR of 1.4% from 221.7 (million MT in 2006) to 255.1 (million MT in 2016).       Internationally, pork is also the most produced...

Gold, the precious yellow metal has historically been one of the most sought commodities for investment and jewellery throughout the world. The metal is also considered as a hedge against inflation, an alternative asset during economic and political upheaval for individuals. In addition, corporates, as well as governments, store the metal as wealth and reserves. Nevertheless, the metal has not...

The primary demand for tires arises from the automobile industry which accounts for 65-70% of the global tire demand. The remaining emanates from mining and construction equipment manufacturing, aviation and industrial sectors. The demand for tires can be categorised into demand from Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and replacement market. The demand from OEM is a function of new...