PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2015

MARKET SURVEY 36 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 09/15 www.petpla.net Market survey: USA & Canada by Waldemar Schmitke For PETplanet insider 2015 has been the year of the North American Road Show. This is the year that saw us travelling through North America in our Editourmobil visiting firms that have found their niche in PET packaging. At the same time we are looking at the entire chain of development from the raw material stage right through to the filled PET bottle. Our journey starts on the east coast of the North American continent in the Canadian city of Halifax and finishes on the west coast of Canada in Calgary. This will be interspersed with a cross-country tour of the USA with the first stage destination being the NPE Show in Orlando Florida. Part 1: Canada The country covers the greater part of the northern half of North America (in total 41% of the continent) and is, in terms of its area, the second largest state in the world after Russia with an area of 9,984,670km 2 (land: 9,093,507km², water: 891,163 km²). This extensive territory stretches as far as the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Atlantic Ocean in the east as well as from the Great Lakes and the 49th parallel in the south to the Arctic Ocean in the north. To the south lie the United States (continen- tal United States), to the north-west the US Federal State of Alaska and to the north-east Greenland. The country’s only immediate neighbour occupying the territory is consequently the USA. The majority of the popula- tion live in the southern part of the country which is also where most of the cities are located. Important cities include Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Halifax. The most northerly big city is Edmonton in Alberta. The most northerly, perma- nently inhabited human settlement in Canada (and also on Earth) is, however, Alert at the northern point of Ellesmere Island in the Nunavut Terri- tory – latitude 82°28’ N which is situ- ated at a distance of 834 km from the North Pole. Canada has ten provinces and three territories. The most popu- lous province is Ontario, followed by Quebec and British Columbia. Capital city Ottawa in Ontario with a population of approx. 883,000 (metro- politan area approx. 1,236,000). State area 9,984,670km² Population and density Canada has a total of some 35 million inhabitants with a popula- tion density of 3.5 inhabitants per km 2 . This makes Canada one of the most thinly populated countries in the world. The major- ity of Canadians live either on the border with the USA or on the coasts. Eighty per cent of them live in the big cities of Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa. Canada is a country popular with immigrants from Europe, especially England, France, Ger- many and Italy, although a large number of immigrants also come from the eastern European countries. Today the highest numbers of immigrants to Canada are from the Asiatic states. At the head of the immigration queue is China. Land usage Agriculture 5% Pastureland 3% Forest 54% unproductive 38% Climate Temperate to arctic Terrain Mainly consisting of plains with mountain ranges in the west (Rocky Mountains). Lowlands in the south east. Natural raw materials Hydroelectric power, iron ore, fish, potassium salt, natural gas and oil, diamonds, lead, gold, silver, molybdenum and wood. Form of government Parliamentary monarchy with the British Monarch as the Head of State (represented by a Governor General). System of government Parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster System. Official lan- guage English and French Other languages spoken by original inhabitants, languages of other immigrant groups (Chinese, Italian, German etc.). Economy Canada is the world’s second larg- est state in terms of its area and the eleventh largest economy. It was a founder member of the G7 and G20 Groups. The commercial centres in the east and west are situated at a distance of up to 5,000km from each other. The country is thinly popu- lated; broad swathes of the Cana- dian Arctic are practically devoid of people. Canada’s economy is based chiefly on raw materials, industry and agriculture. The productive economy and 85% of the workforce are concen- trated inside a swathe up to 350km in width to the north of the US border. Most of the mining of raw material deposits takes place in remote parts of the country. Industry tends to be concentrated on the provinces of Ontario and Quebec as well as on the hinterland of Vancouver, in the southern parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta and in parts of Ontario there