Based on the industry$-$low, industry$-$average, and industry$-$high values for the benchmarked data that appear on p$.7$ of each issue of the FIR, which one of the following is the strongest and most valid signal that one or more elements of a company's costs are too high relative to those of rival companies?

The company's distribution and warehouse costs per pair available in the Europe$-$Africa region were slightly higher than the industry average