Czech brewery Rodinny pivovar Bernard produced 73,000 hectolitres of beer in H1, 6.4 percent more than a year ago, and sold more beer on both the domestic market and abroad, spokesman Zdenek Mikulasek told CTK, July 17.

Bernard exports beer to Slovakia, Sweden, Russia, Australia and USA, among other countries.

"We have been breaking records, especially in April, May and June, mainly thanks to good weather," said Mikulasek.

In Q1, the brewery produced 30,191 hectolitres, 1 percent more year-on-year, and its sales rose by 4 percent to Kc47.1 mil.

In the full of last year, output reached 140,000 hectolitres and sales Kc219 mil.

Brewer SABMiller's 1.6 billion rand ($230.9 million) local bond was launched on Thursday and was three times oversubscribed, Rand Merchant Bank said, according to Reuters, July 19.

SABMiller issued a 5-year bond to repay part of existing loans used to fund its South African business.

"Strong demand from both local and offshore investors helped tighten the pricing to the bottom end of the pricing guidance of 1 percent to 1.2 percent provided before the auction," the bank said in a statement.

RMB said the bond – which settles on Thursday – was SABMiller's first foray into the market since 1992 when it was the first company to issue a bond in South Africa.

In North and South America malt stocks are also exhausted, the former one-month inventory, which was considered a must, has disappeared, analysts reported July 2. It is rumoured that the lack of malt could lead to temporary beer production stops in Brazil and Venezuela. No new malthouse construction is planned in the NAFTA countries, but Argentina will add malting capacities of min. 150.000 tons. In North America the construction of new malting factories has become so expensive, that maltsters say it is not worthwhile unless malting margins of US$ 200,- per ton can be achieved.

In the period of January/May of this year China imported 492.000 tons of malting barley, about half the quantity of last year’s arrivals, according to analysts, July 2. 270.000 tons came from Australia, 215.000 tons from Canada. China shows an enormous flexibility in its barley imports, reacting to world market prices. As price levels will remain high in the new crop year, we shall see whether China can afford the same policy again. But it cannot be denied that the country has made great progress in growing more malting barley of its own.

Spain recorded heavy rainfalls all spring and early summer, the IGC forecasts a barley crop of 11,2 Mill. Tons, 3,1 Mill. tons more than a year ago, analysts said July 2. Spain will need hardly any imports of feed, no imports of malting barley, but may at least supply the needed barley supplies to neighbour Portugal.

The French barley crop had looked thin since the April draught, and the present rains put all French grains in a precarious state. The same is true for Germany, where a small acreage and draught damages will result in an import demand of about 1 Mill. tons of malting barley. Prospects from the Czech Republic down to the Black Sea are doubtful and certainly less than average, in quantity and quality. England’s crop seems a little better than the Continent’s. Scotland, all of Scandinavia and Northern Poland report excellent conditions.

Barley markets in June were dominated by good crop prospects in North America and Australia, the export quota system of the Ukraine and purchases of Saudi Arabia, according to analysts, July 2.

International grain houses sold several cargoes of optional origin barley to S.Arabia at prices around and above US$ 300,- CIF. The Saudi government, however, did not react to higher markets, but left import subsidies and domestic prices unchanged at US$ 245,- CIF. It is reported that local stocks and arrivals of barley will be sufficient for a few months. Origins of the barley sales are the Northern EU, the Black Sea incl. Romania and Bulgaria, and it is rumoured, also Canada and China. ABB Grain of Australia concluded a five year LTA with United Feed of Saudi Arabia for min. 1 Mill. tons annually.