1. Trading offer & request

At this moment there are two OFFERS for 7000 tons of malt on the trading portal www.e-malt.com

• Offer for 200-2000 mtons of malt, ASIA (2RS/6RW 50/50), crop 2003, Bags in container, delivery 1/10/2003 - 30/6/2004, at EUR 294.00/mton, FOB Antwerp. (to see and make a bid to the malt offer, please click here to view code MF1807P1432)
  
  
• Offer for 1-5000 mtons of malt, 6RW Esterel, crop 2003, Bulk, delivery 1/10/2003 - 31/7/2004, at EUR 257.00/mton, FOB Antwerp. (to see and make a bid to the malt offer, please click here to view code MF1807P1501)
  
  

 Top Industry News 

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

• Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) investment bank, has upgraded the German brewer, Holsten Brauerei, to "outperform" from "neutral" ...more info



• Under the decision made by Slovenia's Competition Protection Office (CPO), Pivovarna Union's largest shareholder, its competitor Pivovarna Lasko, is allowed to use its 48% shareholding in Union (Interbrew owns 42% of Union shares) ...more info



• Beer sales in Norway fell 7.2 % during the first half of this year, continuing a trend that began a few years ago. It may lead to more brewery closures, claims an industry trade association ...more info



• CHICAGO After a turbulent four-year relationship, Miller Brewing Co. has dropped J. Walter Thompson from its agency roster, sources said. JWT's Chicago office has handled the Milwaukee brewer's Miller Genuine Draft and Foster's Lager brands ...more info



• Holsten, Germany's largest brewer, has sounded the opening fanfare for the next round of consolidation in Germany's fragmented beer market when it said it was looking for a partner with financial firepower ...more info



• The UK brewing company, Young & Co.'s Brewery, announced on July 15 that trading during the first quarter of the current fiscal year was in line with expectations ...more info



• The Finnish alcohol retail monopoly, Alko, has reported that beer sale in Finland fell by 9.5% to 9.40m litres in the period from January to June, 2003 versus beer sales in the first six months of 2002



• Slovenia: The fears of global brewing giant Interbrew that the stake held by the country's largest brewer Pivovarna Lasko in rival Pivovarna Union could lead to a local monopoly have been dismissed by the Slovenian competition authority ...more info




2. Brewery News

Canadians love their beer -- increasingly if it isn't from Canada, a sweeping study of alcoholic beverage sales reveals. Sales of imported brews such as Corona, Heineken and Stella Artois surged 13.8 % last year to $712.3-million, the eighth consecutive annual increase, Statistics Canada said in a report released on July 9. In 2002, imports captured nearly 10 % of the Canadian beer market, roughly double their share in 1996. And there's no sign that the trend is letting up, industry observers say. "It's all about image," said Cindy Wilson, marketing manager at the Bier Markt, a trendy night spot in Toronto where young professionals sip imported beers in European-style glasses. Drinking an import "says you're educated and have good taste and that you're not too provincial," she said. Many customers are now eschewing wine with meals and are opting instead for a brew such as Guinness, she added. The proliferation of imported brands also is driving sales. "People are experimenting more," said Toronto beer writer Stephen Beaumont. "There are more flavours out there now, and they [customers] want to try different things." Beer remains by far the most popular alcoholic beverage in Canada by volume. It accounts for 81.3 % of the total in 2002 compared with 11.9 % for wine and 6.8 % for spirits. Measured by dollar sales, beer accounted for 51.1 % of Canada's $14.5-billion alcoholic beverage market last year, with spirits generating 25.6 % and wine 23.3 %...more info

China will see the entry of more foreign brewery companies in the coming years, while local players will merge into larger brewery groups to meet growing competition, analysts said, according to AFX News Limited. Wang Feng, a brewery analyst with Guotain Junan Securities Co Ltd, said there is still a huge potential in the country for overseas brewers despite the entry of many global players in recent years, as domestic brewers still command about 70% share of the Chinese market. Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd accounted for 19.17 % share of the domestic beer market in 2002, with Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser holding 10.85 %, and Beijing Yanjing Brewery Co Ltd claiming an 8.01 % share. Wang said Tsingtao Brewery recorded 6.8 bln yuan in sales last year, followed by Yanjing Brewery with 4.8 bln, Zhujiang Brewery with 2.8 bln, and Budweiser ranking sixth with 1.54 bln. (1 usd = 8.3 yuan)Tsingtao Brewery also took the lead in beer output last year with 2.98 mln tons, followed by Yanjing Brewery with 2.09 mln, Harbin Brewery with 990,000, Zhujiang Brewery with 680,000, Chongqing Brewery with 750,000 and Budweiser with 207,000 tons, ranking a distant eighteenth...more info

ST. PETERSBURG, July 15. St. Petersburg's Baltika brewing company and Great Britain's Scottish Courage brewing company have signed a long-term contract for the distribution of Baltika #3 beer in Great Britain, according to the Baltika press service. In the near future Baltika #3 will be sold in 200 pubs and restaurants in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester and Leeds. A mug of the Baltika #3 beer will cost approximately USD 2. The Baltika press service also said that Baltika exports its products to the CIS, Baltic States, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, US, Greece and Mongolia. Baltika was founded in 1990. Authorized capital stock in the company is valued at approximately USD 4 million. The largest shareholder in the company is Baltika Beverage Holding AB with 74.24% of total shares. In the first quarter of 2003 Baltika brewed 3.2 million hectolitres of beer, and export sales increased by 9.5% compared to the same period for 2002. Scottish Courage owns over 25% of the beer market in Great Britain, and is part of Scottish & Newcastle. Scottish Courage is the only large brewing company in Great Britain which has its own private logistics and distribution network for restaurants and pubs.

3. Malt News

As the SARS crisis is over in China and other Asian countries, it is obvious that large sales were lost during the critical two months, which cannot be fully compensated by larger sales in the months to come. The beer industry sits on old malt and barley stocks, and the market of raw materials is still dormant. But restaurants and pubs are crowded again, and more important, the economy, especially in China, is absolutely in full swing. Therefore SARS will remain an episode without a long-term influence on the Asian economy.

4. Barley News

Germany reports dry soils in the eastern “laender” as well as in parts of Bavaria. It looks good in the Western half and in Thuringia. Spain enjoyed a good growing season and is harvesting a crop of around 9-10 million tons of barley, however, no more malting barley than needed for its own market. Conditions look very good so far all over northern Europe, from Ireland through the U.K. to Scandinavia. Markets of malting barley have nevertheless reacted to the French situation, nominal quotes are up, but in reality there are no hardly any sellers or buyers. The old crop surplus is now estimated to be about 100,000 tons in Denmark, which should find a home in view of the nervousness concerning new crop.