Canadian Industry - Where's the Money?

Day 516, 23:41 • Published in Canada Canada • by Dade Pendwyn

One major detractor from eRepublik is its innate lack of quality statistics. Aside from a few useless tidbits, most of the really juicy stuff is left to the now persecuted API geeks and overzealous spreadsheet junkies. I'm going to attempt to alleviate this by providing a peek into the current Canadian business economy.

Taxes have finally settled on a 10-X-10 (Income, Import, VAT) format for manufacturing and seem to be set that way for a while. This should allow the turbulent after-effects of constant tax-changing to normalize and to get the different manufacturing industries on square footing. However, there are still some tax discrepancies between land sectors - this is to be expected due to the nature of Canadian resources. I’ll now determine the most robust sectors of the land and manufacturing industries to determine what we can expect as far as new companies and where prices should go.

For this elucidation I’ll be using a uniform sample company - values don’t need to be exact to the human resources market because what we’re looking at here is a comparison between industries, not a fixed profitability observation. Each industry will use the same company with two exceptions: 1. Land and manufacturing will use different sample companies; 2. Wages will be increased for higher Q companies. All raw materials prices will be taken from domestic sources. The “sold at” price is derived from the current Canadian marketplace, and is the price before taxes.

For our company, we’ll use the numbers from different industries and calculate their profits, then compare them to other industries. From this, we can determine the industry which needs new companies the most, and the industry which is the most oversaturated. The best values for manufacturing and land are bolded, and the worst are italicized.

*NOTICE: This is a sample company - actual company profits WILL NOT mirror these results, unless you have the same employees/wages/wellnesses. These companies have 10 employees with good wellness and slightly below average wages. For this reason, these numbers should be considered as the upper limit of profits for a perfectly managed company in its corresponding sector.*

MANUFACTUR ING


Food


Q1
Raw Material Cost: 0.38 CAD
Produced Units: 127.5
Sold at: 0.91 CAD
Profit/Loss: -3.91 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: -0.1955 CAD/gold invested

Q2 (wages +1.5 CAD)
Raw Material Cost: 0.38 CAD
Produced Units: 63.8
Sold at: 2.55 CAD
Profit/Loss: 51.88 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 1.297 CAD/gold invested

Q3 (wages +3.0 CAD)
Raw Material Cost: 0.38 CAD
Produced Units: 42.5
Sold at: 5.49 CAD
Profit/Loss: 115.74 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 1.286 CAD/gold invested

Q4 (wages +5 CAD)
Raw Material Cost: 0.38 CAD
Produced Units: 31.88
Sold at: 8.65 CAD
Profit/Loss: 142.41 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.748 CAD/gold invested

Q5 (wages +7 CAD)
Raw Material Cost: 0.38 CAD
Produced Units: 25.5
Sold at: 12.83 CAD
Profit/Loss: 176.04 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.451 CAD/gold invested

Analysis: Making money with Q1 food is essentially impossible in the current market. You should only enter this industry with plans to quickly upgrade at least to Q2. Q3 and Q4 seem to be the sweet spots for this industry, and there is a lot of money to be made here.

Gifts


Q1
Raw Material Cost: 0.73 CAD
Produced Units: 63.75
Sold at: 1.93 CAD
Profit/Loss: 5.02 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.251 CAD/gold invested

Q2 (wages +1.5 CAD)
Raw Material Cost: 0.73 CAD
Produced Units: 31.88
Sold at: 4.00 CAD
Profit/Loss: 17.76 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.444 CAD/gold invested

Q3 (wages +3 CAD)
Raw Material Cost: 0.73 CAD
Produced Units: 21.25
Sold at: 7.00 CAD
Profit/Loss: 32.78 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.364 CAD/gold invested

Analysis: Gifts have low returns on invested gold across the board. This market is oversaturated, and should not be entered currently. There are opportunities to make profits, but you’d be better off to spend your gold on companies in other sectors.

Weapons


Q1
Raw Material Cost: 2.55 CAD
Produced Units: 25.51
Sold at: 6.81 CAD
Profit/Loss: 37.16 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 1.858 CAD/gold invested

Q2 (wages +1.5 CAD)
Raw Material Cost: 2.55 CAD
Produced Units: 12.75
Sold at: 14.49 CAD
Profit/Loss: 65.78 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 1.645 CAD/gold invested

Q3 (wages +3 CAD)
Raw Material Cost: 2.55 CAD
Produced Units: 8.50
Sold at: 22.00 CAD
Profit/Loss: 63.87 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.710 CAD/gold invested

Q4 (wages +5 CAD)
Raw Material Cost: 2.55 CAD
Produced Units: 3.19
Sold at: 30.00 CAD
Profit/Loss: 53.55 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.282 CAD/gold invested

Analysis: Weapons have by far the best returns on early investments. Q1 weapons bring good profits for very little gold investment. The only downside to this industry is that it depends 100% on Canada’s war situation. To enter this market you’re going to need extra gold to keep you afloat in this feast or famine industry.

Moving Tickets


Q1
Raw Material Cost: 3.4
Produced Units: 12.75
Sold at: 9.50 CAD
Profit/Loss: 6.3 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.315 CAD/gold invested

Analysis: There’s no money to be made in this sector currently. The market is saturated, and there are more tickets being produced than are being bought.



Click on image for larger view.

Final Analysis: From this graph it’s easy to see that the most profitable sector right now is food. This is to be expected as Canada has a young population that can’t afford many frivolities, but wants to eat and get its wellness up. Weapons has the most profitable Q1 sector, likely due to the high demand for the cheapest weapons possible. However, the up and down nature of the weapons industry means you should approach with caution. Gifts and tickets are difficult to profit in - especially in tickets where no quality upgrade is feasible (no market for Q2 or higher tickets).

*Reminder: Different company details used for Land companies, since Land wages are higher.*

LAND---


Grain


Q1
Produced Units: 234.2
Sold at: 0.38 CAD
Profit/Loss: -9.50 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: -0.475 CAD/gold invested

Q2 (wages +1.5 CAD)
Produced Units: 210.8
Sold at: 0.76 CAD
Profit/Loss: 46.70 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 1.168 CAD/gold invested

Q3 (wages +3 CAD)
Produced Units: 187.4
Sold at: 1.14 CAD
Profit/Loss: 85.10 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.946 CAD/gold invested

Q4 (wages +5 CAD)
Produced Units: 163.9
Sold at: 1.52 CAD
Profit/Loss: 100.70 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.530 CAD/gold invested

Analysis: This shows a fairly standard grade of profit increase parallel to quality increase. Contrary to popular belief, grain is actually a decent sector for making money in the Canadian land sector. There are modest profits if you’re willing to upgrade to Q2 - no chance at profits in Q1.

Diamonds


Q1
Produced Units: 234.2
Sold at: 0.37 CAD
Profit/Loss: -11.84 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: -0.592 CAD/gold invested

Q2 (wages +1.5 CAD)
Produced Units: 210.8
Sold at: 0.74 CAD
Profit/Loss: 42.48 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 1.062 CAD/gold invested

Q3 (wages +3 CAD)
Produced Units: 187.4
Sold at: 1.11 CAD
Profit/Loss: 79.48 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.883 CAD/gold invested

Q4 (wages +5 CAD)
Produced Units: 163.9
Sold at: 1.48 CAD
Profit/Loss: 94.14 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.495 CAD/gold invested

Analysis: Canada has too many diamond companies to make money selling domestically - you can make as much or more in a grain company. Chances at profiting greatly from diamond companies exist only if you purchase pricy export licenses.

Iron

Not examined because we have no High Iron regions

Oil


Q1
Produced Units: 234.2
Sold at: 0.34 CAD
Profit/Loss: -18.87 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.9435 CAD/gold invested

Q2 (wages +1.5 CAD)
Produced Units: 210.8
Sold at: 0.68 CAD
Profit/Loss: 29.84 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.746 CAD/gold invested

Q3 (wages +3 CAD)
Produced Units: 187.4
Sold at: 1.02 CAD
Profit/Loss: 62.62 CAD per day
Return on Price of Company: 0.696 CAD/gold invested

Analysis: Oil prices have plummeted recently, leaving this industry less profitable than grain and diamonds at the moment. Additionally, unlike diamonds, there isn’t a huge global demand for oil. This is likely due partially to the training missions in the USA, which has caused eRepublik’s greatest population to have no need to move overseas to fight. These training missions have decimated the prices of oil and moving tickets. It would be best to stay out of this resource for now.



Click on image for larger view.

Final Analysis: Grain and diamonds are neck and neck, with grain getting a slight nod domestically and diamonds having a huge advantage internationally (if you can afford the export license). Oil is very weak, and should not be entered. Global oil prices have gone from 0.015 gold to 0.01 gold in a couple weeks, mirroring the drastic fall in ticket prices, and clearly Canadian oil is not immune from this trend. Iron production in Canada isn’t feasible since there are no high iron regions in Canada - Canadian iron is imported. In the graph it is easy to see that it is virtually impossible to make any money with a Q1 land company. Do not start a land company unless you have more than 40 gold.

Ultimate Analysis

If you have 50-100 gold and are looking to break into Canadian industry, the food sector would probably gain you the best returns. Diamonds is also a fairly safe bet, but only if you have at least Q2 and are able to export. Weapons are a good low investment option, but beginners should stay away from this market until they understand the nuances of a war market. Oil, tickets, and gifts should be avoided at all costs currently.

As it can often be difficult to know where to invest your hard earned gold, I hope this serves as a glimpse into where the Canadian market currently stands, and where the money is in Canadian business.

*This was an official entry in the Canada Prize PvP Journalism Tournament*