Planet Business

Image of the week: Seasonal strike

At the Port of Tacoma in the Pacific Northwest state of Washington in the US, a labour dispute has prompted a slowdown, with the result that these harvested Christmas trees might not make it to their intended destinations such as Hong Kong and Tokyo in time for peak tree-buying season. Some 8-10 million evergreen trees grow

n in Washington state and Oregon are sold as Christmas trees each year, with many destined for Asia, Canada and Mexico, but there is now a two-week backlog of delightful-smelling shipping containers. As the ocean voyage from Washington state to Asia takes about 23 days, if trees such as these don’t set sail soon, they will miss the sales window and perish without so much as a single plastic angel between them. Photograph: Reuters/Matt Mills McKnight

In Numbers: Deflating euro zone

16

Number of months since euro zone business growth has been so slow, with the figure described as “a huge disappointment”. A renewed downturn is “an increasing likelihood”, said the compilers of the purchasing managers’ index.

0.4

Percentage rise in prices in the euro zone in October, far short of the 2 per cent target, prompting fears that the economic region is, as the deputy governor of the Bank of Italy put it, “on the brink of deflation”.

50

Percentage chance that the European Central Bank will begin to buy sovereign bonds, according to a Reuters poll.

The Lexicon: Ammonium nitrate

Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata must rue the day in 2001 that it decided to switch its airbag propellant from a reliable compound called tetrazole to the "unbelievably cheap" ammonium nitrate. Highly sensitive to temperature changes and moisture, it breaks down over time. Indeed, ammonium nitrate "shouldn't be used in airbags", explosives experts unequivocally say. Thirteen years later, some 14 million vehicles fitted with Takata-made airbags have been recalled amid evidence that they can explode violently when they deploy in an accident, sending metal debris flying everywhere, including into drivers' necks, and causing at least five deaths. Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Mazda, Ford, BMW and Chrysler have all been caught up in the scandal.

Getting to know: Nick and Christian Candy

The Candy brothers are British developers of luxury properties said to interested in buying the Financial Times off Pearson Plc.The Candys are reported to be keen not only on the prestige of owning the pink paper, but also in making a lucrative property play on its offices, which occupy a lovely spot on the south bank of the Thames and could be turned into executive flats. Alongside Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, they were linked by the Times to the FT last month, and yesterday Pearson said it wasn't ruling out a sale. "Do we have to own them? No. But actually it's one of those brands which, you know, you don't sell lightly," said chief financial officer Robin Freestone. So the price will have to be right then. Other Candy facts: Christian Candy is a Monaco-based tax exile and Nick Candy is married to the former pop star Holly Valance.