Danish largest beer maker, Carlsberg Breweries, announced on January 23 that it has been assigned investment grade ratings by both Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings Ltd. Carlsberg Breweries has been assigned the rating Baa3 (stable outlook) by Moody's and BBB- (stable outlook) by Fitch.

"Carlsberg Breweries is pleased with these Investment Grade ratings, which are seen as an acknowledgement of current robust business strategy. The Investment Grade ratings reflect, that Carlsberg Breweries has a good credit quality and a strong business profile within the global brewing industry," says J?rn P. Jensen, CFO.

Carlsberg is one of the leading brewing groups in the world, with a large portfolio of beer and soft drink brands. Its flagship brand, Carlsberg, is one of fastest growing and most well known beer brands in the world. Over 31,000 people work for Carlsberg at its 92 local production sites in 48 countries and its products are sold in over 150 markets. In 2004, Carlsberg sold 92 million hectolitres of beer, which breaks down to roughly 74 million bottles of beer per day.

Sleeman Breweries has slashed its preliminary 2005 earnings guidance, citing the impact of competitive pressure in the beer market, as its shares dipped more than five per cent, according to Canadian Press of January 24.

Earnings per share, excluding non-recurring items, should be between 60 and 64 cents a share - lower than previously announced guidance of 81 to 85 cents per share, the Guelph-based company said on January 24.

Sleeman stock dropped 71 cents to $12.77 in morning trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It has traded in a range between $11 and $15.59 over the past 52 weeks.

"The principle reason for the reduced outlook was competitive pricing, which increased in key markets through most of the fourth quarter," the company said.

"The industry experienced compressed margins during the quarter, most notably in the province of Quebec," chairman-CEO John Sleeman said in a release."On a positive note, Sleeman market share and volumes remained consistent with prior year levels in the face of this pricing environment." The company said the pricing environment "will likely continue to impact earnings for the first part of 2006."

Actual fourth-quarter and full-year 2005 earnings are to be announced March 2, 2006.

During December 2005 a notable increase in Ukrainian malt production was registered. According to the statistical data, in December 2005 Ukrainian maltsters manufactured 34.6 thousand metric tonnes of malt, that is an increase by 7% compared to November 2005.

In comparison with December 2004, malt production volume increased with 9.3 thousand tonnes (+ 37%), according to APK-Inform reports and Ukrainian Goskomstate.

For the first 6 months of market year 2005/2006 Ukraine malt production increased by 28.8% year-on-year from 140.5 thousand tonnes in July-December 2004 to 181.4 thousand tonnes in July-December 2005.

The leading Ukrainian malt manufactures are: Kharkov based company, Malteurop, with a malt output of 8,700 metric tonnes in December 2005; OAO Slavutsky Malting plant, which produced about 7,100 metric tonnes of malt; Chernigov based unit of Malteurop Ukraine with 4,000 tonnes; Berdichevsky Malting plant and ZAO Obolon Brewery produced more than 4,000 tonnes in December.

World barley production is forecast by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canda (AAFC) to increase by 7% to 145 million tonnes (Mt) in 2006-2007, rising for all major exporters except Australia. Total supply is expected to increase only slightly due to lower carry-in stocks.

World barley trade is forecast to increase by 3% to 17.5 Mt in 2006-2007. World carry-out stocks are expected to increase by 4%. As a result, world prices are projected to decrease slightly for feed barley and be similar to 2005-2006 for malting barley.

According to Agrarian Policy Ministry of Ukraine's data of January 19, 23 % of winter barley crops in Ukraine (120,700 hectares) were in good condition, 36.3 % (190,900 hectares) - in fair one, the ministry's crop monitoring data were showing. It said 35.9 % of the plantings (188,200 hectares) were in weak and rarefied state.

According to the ministry's data, winter barley in Ukraine for the 2006 crop was sown on a total of 523,900 hectares. Out of this area, the crops have shot out on 498,900 hectares (95.2 %).