Kingway Brewery Holdings Ltd. has announced the building of a brewery in Foshan, Guangdong province at a cost of RMB 400 million, according to China Knowledge, March 7.

In a statement filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Kingway said that commercial production will begin in early 2008. The company, which first announced the project in November, established Kingway Foshan in the Mainland to run the new brewery.

With an approximate land area of 158,000 sq m, Kingway Foshan will have a production capacity of 200,000 tons per annum.

Kingway currently has two brewery plants in Shenzhen with a total production of 900,000 tons. Kingway products are sold in more than 20 cities and provinces like Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Hainan and Jiangxi, as well as in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.

As part of the continuous optimization of the brewery structure in Western Europe, Carlsberg has decided to concentrate its brewing in Italy at the brewery in Varese north of Milan, according to company’s press release of March 6. The brewery will be modernised and the capacity will be increased by 0.5m hl to 1,4m hl. Consequently the brewery in Ceccano south of Rome is for sale.

"Italy is an important market to Carlsberg. As the consumers will realize, we are very dedicated to this market. Thus we will continue to invest in our brands – Carlsberg, Tuborg, Splügen and Poretti among others – and distribution network. But we also need to further modernise and focus our structure", says Senior Vice President Alex Myers, who is responsible for Carlsberg Western Europe.

Carlsberg in Italy:

Carlsberg started brewing and distribution of Carlsberg and Tuborg beer in Italy in 1975. In 1982, Carlsberg acquired 50% of Industrie Poretti, and the remaining 50% were acquired in 2002, whereupon the company became Carlsberg Italia S.p.A.

OJSC Baltika Brewery Company invested $28 mln to its malt-house in Yaroslavl, the company announced, according to AK&M, March 5.

Opening of a plant with a productive power of 50 thousand tons of malt a year has taken place today, 5 March 2007. The construction of the plant was performed in the boundaries of a new program aiming cost reduction, the company said.

Baltika has been leader of the Russian beer market since 1996. In January-September 2006, the company's net income totalled EUR 260.6 mil, which is 34.8% more y-o-y. Its revenues grew by 77% to EUR 1.338 bn, its gross profit - by 30.2% to EUR 727.4 mil, EBITDA - by 85% to EUR 440.9 mln. The main brands are Baltika and Arsenalnoe. The company owns 10 breweries and 4 malt-houses in 9 regions of Russia. The principal shareholder is Baltic Beverages Holding AB (ÂÂH) that holds 86.32% of Baltika's authorized capital stock and 91.48% of voting shares.

The malt campaign of 2006/07 continues slowly and painfully, according to market analysts. Prices well above EUR 400,- ex works are at least EUR 50,- higher than malt offers for crop 2007. Most maltsters are sold out, and brewers restrict their old crop purchases to an absolute minimum. Activity in new crop malt is large. Domestic brewers are nervous, do not want to repeat last year’s mistakes, and have covered already 25 – 30 % of their 2008 demand.

Prices for 2rs malt, delivery in 2008, CPT breweries, have risen from EUR 365,- to 375,-/380,- in recent weeks. Export business has accelerated as well in February, prices reflecting levels of domestic markets, EUR 375,- FOB in bulk in vessel, ER 390,-/395,- FOB in bulk in container. Business has been reported to Japan, Central America and several African states, Venezuela in the market to buy.

Licence bookings by the end of February are 1.208 million tonnes, 222,000 tonnes behind the pace of 2005/06. If the rhythm of export shipments remains unchanged till the end of the crop year, the final figure may be 1.8 million tonnes versus 2.18 million tonnes a year earlier.

The reasons are known: a lower malt production in the EU, smaller purchases of many brewers, some small losses to competitor countries. Several 10,000 tonnes sales to Romania and Bulgaria will move from the column “export to third countries” to domestic trade.

French malting barley, basis July 2007, 2rs Prestige/Sebastian, FOB Creil EUR 175,-, FOB Moselle EUR 187,-. 6rw Esterel FOB Creil EUR 150,-, FOB Moselle 160,-. Danish optional 2rs, basis October 2007, FOB seaport EUR 178,-. English 2rs Optic/Tipple, basis October 2007, FOB East/South coast EUR 177,-. German 2rs, delivered maltings, ex harvest EUR 189,-, basis October 2007 EUR 193,-.

All prices of spring barley result in ex-farm prices from EUR 160,- to 170,-. French and English farmers found these levels attractive enough to plant more spring malting barley this year, for Denmark the better markets came too late to prevent massive plantings of winter grains and rapeseed, German farmers seem unconvinced. Bio-gas and bio-diesel industries operate larger capacities in Germany than in the other EU countries.

The winter has been extraordinarily mild, virtually no winter kill from frost, but various diseases are reported from winter barley areas, market analysts commented on March 2nd.

Spring planting started very early, but came to a complete stop, when storms and rains hit large parts of Western and Central Europe. Estimates are that only 60 % of spring barley have been planted in the Charente, the earliest harvest region of France, no more than 20 % south and 5 % north of Paris. The south and East coast of England report 50 % of spring barley seeded. Plantings in Germany had also started, but remained very small so far.