1. Trading offer & request

At this moment there is one OFFER for 8000 tons of malt and one REQUEST for 260 tons of barley on the trading portal www.e-malt.com

• Offer for 1-8000 mtons of malt, 6RW Esterel, crop 2003, Bulk, delivery 1/1/2004 - 30/6/2004, at EUR 254.00 /mton, FOB Antwerp. (to see and make a bid to the malt offer, please click here to view code MF1806P1342)
  
  
• Request for 260 mtons of barley, Any 2R, crop 2003, packed in bags, delivery 1/10/2003 - 31/1/2004, at USD 220.00 /mton, C&F Karachi by sea. (to see and make a bid to the barley request, please click here to view code BR0906P0939)
  
  

 Top Industry News 

• The Canada’s brewer, Molson, announced that it would close one of its ten Brazilian breweries, which is based in Ribeirao Preto ... Click here
  
  
• The world's top brewer, Anheuser-Busch Inc, has exercised a convertible bond in Tsingtao Brewery Co, doubling its stake in China's largest beer maker ... Click here
  
  
• The Government of Romania will increase the tax on beer produced by brewers with an annual production of between 100,000 hl and 200,000 hl to EUR 0.53 per hl ... Click here
  
  
• The French company Malteurop will build a new malting plant in Ukraine on the territory of Rogani brewery Click here
  
  
• China's beer output, which had shown a good growth trend in the first three months of the year, has since suffered bad losses from the SARS epidemic ... Click here
  
  
• Barley production 2003/2004 is estimated at 49.01 Mt, up 1.3 Mt from the 2002/2003 levels ... Click here
  
  

More news is available on site www.e-malt.com  

• The Colombia’s brewing force Bavaria announced on June 25 that it has increased its stake in the Peru’s single brewer, Backus, by acquiring an extra 1.17% of voting shares ...more info



• San Miguel Corp., the Philippine beverage conglomerate has reported a 13% rise of its domestic beer sales in January-May this year, to 12.7 billion pesos (US$238m) ...more info



• Chang Beverages, the Thai drinks group, has asked the government for help in its dispute with the Danish brewer Carlsberg AS, Asian Wall Street Journal reported ...more info



• Belgian brewing force Interbrew reported on June 25 that during the first five and a half months of 2003, it has realized volume growth, outperforming most markets in which it operates ...more info



• Rabobank Securities has upgraded its recommendation for the Belgian brewer from "underperform" to "neutral". The action followed Interbrew's trading statement ...more info



• Scottish & Newcastle, Heineken, Interbrew and Anheuser-Busch are all interested in the purchase of the Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar ...more info



• The British brewing force, Scottish & Newcastle, confirmed on June 24 that it had completed the acquisition of the Portuguese brewer, Sociedade Central de Cervejas ...more info



• Colombia's largest brewery, Bavaria, said on June 24 it would build a plant in the south of the country. The company is to invest about US$55 million ...more info



• Fortis Bank, has reduced its ratings on shares in Heineken, the Dutch brewing force, from "buy" to "hold", following the company's profit warning for the first half of the year ...more info



• Bank Puilaetco removed the Belgian brewer Interbrew from its recommended stocks. Rabo Securities has cut its forecast for the company ...more info



• The Netherlands’ brewer, Grolsch, is maintaining its 2003 outlook despite a profit warning by rival Heineken, according to Reuters. A Grolsch’s spokesman said: "The situation is different for us than for Heineken or Interbrew." ...more info



• The Czech brewer Budvar, owned by state, may be caught up in a new wave of privatisation in the Czech Republic, the Mlada Fronta Dnes newspaper reported ...more info



• Ukrainian brewers produced about 616.39 million litres of beer in January-May this year, 15.9% more than in the same period last year. In May beer production in Ukraine reached the volume of 191.8 million litres ...more info




2. Brewery News

The Canada’s brewer, Molson, announced that it would close one of its ten Brazilian breweries, which is based in Ribeirao Preto. The brewery is part of Molson's Kaiser unit, which it acquired last year. “The closure will result in 140 job losses and generate annual savings of 15m Brazilian reals (US$5.3m),” the company said. The move is part of its cost cutting programme and will result in a charge of C$42m (US$32m). Molson's ongoing cost savings programme is designed to improve the profitability of the Brazilian operations over a three-year period and aims to save the company 200 million reals. In a statement Molson said: "Built over 75 years ago, the current Ribeirao Preto brewing facility is one of Kaiser's oldest breweries in Brazil, and is one of the most inefficient." No more closures are planned in the short term, but Molson said it would continue to scrutinise where further savings can be made.

The world's top brewer, Anheuser-Busch Inc, has exercised a convertible bond in Tsingtao Brewery Co, doubling its stake in China's largest beer maker, Reuters reported. Tsingtao, one of China's few globally known brands, said in a statement issued on Friday that Anheuser-Busch's stake in the firm will increase to 9.9 % from the current 4.5%. The convertible bond is part of a strategic agreement between the two brewers made last October, in which Anheuser-Busch will raise its stake in Tsingtao to 27 percent over seven years from the current 4.5%. Under the agreement Tsingtao will issue convertible bonds to Anheuser-Busch in three instalments valued at around US$182 million (HK$1.4 billion). Anheuser has exercised the first tranche of those bonds. As the debt converts to equity over seven years, Busch's stake will increase from 4.5 to 9.9 %, then to 20 %, and then to 27 % -- all in the form of "H" common shares listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The Government of Romania will increase the tax on beer produced by brewers with an annual production of between 100,000 hl and 200,000 hl to EUR 0.53 per hl per Plato degree. For breweries with annual production capacities between 50,000 hl and 100,000 hl, the increased excise duties will be EUR 0.50 per hl per Plato degree, while for annual productions of up to 50,000 hl, the excise duties will be EUR 0.47 per hl per Plato degree.

3. Malt News

The French company Malteurop will build a new malting plant in Ukraine on the territory of Rogani brewery. That was the announcement made by the Ambassador Plenipotentiary of France in Ukraine. Malteurop will invest about EUR 20 million in the project.

4. Barley News

China's beer output, which had shown a good growth trend in the first three months of the year, has since suffered bad losses from the SARS epidemic. Maltsters and barley importers sit on unsold or undelivered stocks. Further barley purchases are unlikely in the near future. Crop prospects of Chinese barley this year are unfavourable after drought in the North of the country und untimely rains in the Shanghai basin at harvest time.

Barley production 2003/2004 is estimated at 49.01 Mt, up 1.3 Mt from the 2002/2003 levels. Production is set to rise to the greatest extent in Germany (+625 kt), France (+127 kt), Ireland (+212 kt), but above all Spain (+970 kt). Barley output is set to decline from last year’s level in Denmark (-360 kt) and the UK (-200 kt). Since last month, projected barley output has been revised up by 400 kt: this takes account of a large increase for Spain and reductions for Germany, Denmark, the UK and Sweden. The increase in projected Spanish barley production stems from the good level of rainfall received in April and the beginning of May. It could end up being even higher than this estimate if the weather through the remainder of May and the beginning of June is not overly hot...more info