Carlsberg AS said on April 11 it has opened a financial services centre in Poznan in the west of Poland that will serve its Polish and German operations, according to AFX.

The centre will become operational in November and will employ 70 accounting specialists. Initially, it will serve Carlsberg's Polish breweries, and will start serving the German ones in March 2007.

Poznan won the location of the financing centre against Budapest and Bucharest. Carlsberg did not say how much it is investing in the centre.

The Danish brewer has three breweries in Poland and markets eight brands of beer there. Its own brand holds a 14.5 pct share of the Polish market.

Carlsberg's Polish sales in 2005 were 845 mln zlotys (213 mln eur), up 8 pct from a year earlier. The net profit rose from 5 mln zlotys to 65 mln zlotys or 16.4 mln eur.

Chile's biggest brewing company, Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. (CCU), reported on April 7 preliminary first quarter 2006 consolidated volumes. CCU said in a statement that beer sales volume increased by 8.1% in Chile in the first quarter 2006 up to 1,370,089 hl, and by 1.8% in Argentina up to 666,017 hl.

CCU plans to release its consolidated first quarter results by the last week of April.

CCU is a diversified beverage company operating principally in Chile and Argentina. CCU is the largest Chilean brewer, the second-largest Argentine brewer, the third-largest Chilean soft drink producer, the second-largest Chilean wine producer, the largest Chilean mineral water producer, one of the largest Chilean pisco producers and also participates in the confectionery industry in Chile. The Company has licensing and/or joint venture arrangements with Heineken Brouwerijen B.V., Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc., PepsiCo Inc., Paulaner Brauerei AG, Schweppes Holdings Limited and Watt’s Alimentos S.A. For more information, visit www.ccu-sa.com.

Already the earlier developments, but most of all the Weissheimer case have turned the malt market around in a big way.

Some weeks ago a large German brewery still managed to purchase malt for 2007 at prices around € 260,- delivered plants, now levels are between 270,- and 280,-. Comparable prices last year were 230/240, market analysts said on April 3.

German beer sales recovered from a bad January and stand at plus 1,1 % for the first two months of the year.

Lacey 6-row malting barley is a late addition to the list of recommended varieties for 2006. Canada Malting holds a new contract to supply Lacey to a major U.S. brewery. The same contract includes a deal for more Robust 6-row barley.

Growers interested in contracts for either of these varieties can call Brian Sawatzky at the Canada Malting office in Calgary at 403-571-7000 ext. 3052. Contracts are open to growers in any region.