E-Malt.com Flash 28b. July 14

Belgium: InBev realized 104.2 million hl in the first half of 2005

World's beer giant, InBev, announced on July 14 that it realized a total volume of 104.2 million hectoliters in the first six months of 2005, leading to organic volume growth of 5.5% for beer and 4.6% for soft-drinks, totaling 5.4% growth against the same period of last year.

Second quarter beer organic volume growth of 6.3% was markedly stronger than first quarter growth of 4.4%.

In North America, Canadian volumes declined by 1.2%, impacted by Ontario where the discount segment continues to grow, partly offset by good progress in Québec. The US market slowdown led to a 4.3% volume decline, due to the softness of our domestic low-carb brand, Rock Green Light®, and our Canadian brands down by nearly 8%. Our European brands however grew by nearly 12% during the first half.

In Central and South America, beer volumes were up strongly in nearly all countries. In Brazil, beer market share improved 2.0 percentage points over the first half of 2004, reaching 68.3% on the back of 13.3% volume growth.

In Western Europe volumes declined by 4.6% - Benefralux was lower by 3.1%, UK/Ireland declined by 9.7%, while Germany/Italy/Spain/Austria/Switzerland increased by 1.2% on the back of better second quarter volumes. ...more info

Czech Republic: Czech beer output increased by 3% in H1 2005

Czech beer production increased by a preliminary 3% in the first-half of 2005...more info

Russia: Baltika Brewery’s share in Russia's total beer exports amounts to 80 %

Russian beer giant, Baltika Brewery, is intending to boost its exports by 20 % in 2005 compared to 2004, the company's press service has recently announced...more info

Latin America: Beer volumes of Quinsa increased by 8% in H1 2005

Quilmes Industrial (Quinsa) S.A. announced on July 14 its overall beer volumes for the second quarter 2005 increased by 9.4% to 3.02 million hl...more info

China: The country defends its beer against charges it contains cancer-causing agent

The formaldehyde content in one liter of Chinese beer is lower than that in one kilogram of poultry, thus Chinese beer is safe to drink, said a report released by the China Brewing Industry Association on July 14, according to Xinhua News Agency. They said domestic beer contained about the same amount of the chemical as imports.

Quoting a recent report from the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Xinhua News Agency said administration tests on scores of different beer brands showed domestic brews contained up to 0.56 parts per million of formaldehyde, compared to up to 0.61 parts per million for imports.

"Chinese beer is safe to drink as its one-litre formaldehyde content is much lower than the standard set by the World Heath Organization," Xinhua cited the report as saying. The report didn't say which imports had been tested but said the domestic brands tested included best-selling Tsingtao and Yanjing.

Xinhua reported Thursday that one litre of Chinese beer contained, on average, less formaldehyde than one kilogram of chicken, fish or fruit, citing a report from the same government body.

The inspection was prompted by a recent newspaper report claiming 95 per cent of Chinese beers contained formaldehyde, despite the practice being banned by Chinese law. ...more info

Barley News

EU: EU to cut 2005-06 barley export due to Ukrainian competition

The EU is likely to cut its barley exports for the 2005-06 marketing year (October-September) by 300,000 tonnes to 3.3 million tonnes due to an expected hike in Ukraine's barley exports...more info

Hops News

New Zealand: 2005 HOP CROP

The 2005 New Zealand hop harvest was completed in March. The 2004/05 growing season was characterised by a mild Spring...more info