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E-Malt.com Newsletter 33a
August 11 - August 12, 2008
Open!
Click here to get full size Newsletter


Quote of the week

"Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would be capable of doing with the world looking on."
Duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)
Currency Rates
Base Currency: Euro, EUR
on 12-August-2008

1 EUR = 1.4978 USD
1 EUR = 0.7813 GBP
1 EUR = 1.5981 CAD
1 EUR = 1.688 AUD
1 EUR = 164.751 JPY
1 EUR = 2.4169 BRL
1 EUR = 36.5011 RUB
1 EUR = 10.2885 CNY
Base Currency: US Dollar
on 12-August-2008

1 USD = 0.6678 EUR
1 USD = 0.5216 GBP
1 USD = 1.067 CAD
1 USD = 1.127 AUD
1 USD = 110.007 JPY
1 USD = 1.6136 BRL
1 USD = 24.3695 RUB
1 USD = 6.869 CNY
Currency Rates Chart

Equities of the Largest Breweries

Equities of the Largest Breweries

Average Market Prices Change trend

August 12, 2008

Type Crop 2007 Crop 2008
2rs Barley nq   €189.0-191.0 2.06%
6rw Barley nq   €173.0-175.0
2rs Malt €536.5-538.5 €427.5-429.5 1.15%
6rw Malt €503.5-505.5 €407.0-409.0
Feed Barley nq   €153.0-155.0 1.32%

Note: Just click on the price link and you will be led to our Market Price History. Average barley market prices are French and are estimated on FOB Creil basis. Average Malt Prices are theoretical and based FOB Antwerp being estimated on French malting barley. The changes are compared to last Newsletter's prices. Arrows indicate the direction of the change.


Top Industry News

World: Beer output race 2007 – Russia third, leaving Germany behind for the first time since 1974 ...Click here
Russia: Baltika & Sun InBev compete for growing beer market ...Click here
Belgium: Analysts predict a small rise for InBev’s profits in Q2 ...Click here
Estonia: Shareholders approve Saku Õlletehase takeover by Carlsberg Estonia Holding ...Click here
USA & Canada: Sapporo to increase beer output in North America ...Click here
Finland: To prevent inflation, taxes on beer should not be increased ...Click here
China: Tsingtao Brewery to expand overseas ...Click here
Ukraine: Obolon increasing beer output by 8.7% ...Click here
Belarus: Belsolod malthouse increases malt output 2.9 times in H1 2008 ...Click here
Canada: Malting barley C$15 per tonne down - CWB Pool Return Outlook ...Click here
Ireland: Irish barley growers resent low prices ...Click here
Czech Republic: A better harvest of 5,950 tonnes of hops is expected this year after the previous two weaker years ...Click here




Canada: Scandal over CWB growing – less than 9% world barley exports controlled by the board ...More Info
Colombia: SABMiller sells its water business to focus on beer ...More Info
Moldova: According to H1 2008 results, Moldovans drank 66% more Baltika beer than last year ...More Info
India: Ceylon Brewery worried by cost escalation despite doubled operating profits ...More Info
USA: Anheuser-Busch Q2 lobbying expenses amounted to $920, ...More Info
China: Chinese beer brands compete for championship by sponsoring Beijing Olympics ...More Info
USA: MillerCoors torn by internal strife – Miller Lite and Coors Light compete ...More Info
Belarus: Despite considerable state involvement, Belarusian beer market grows and will be growing, analysts say ...More Info
Bolivia: Bolivian market outlook – most alcoholic drinks sold illicitly besides beer ...More Info
Belarus: Domestic and imported beer to be sold with equal rights – no more than 30% markup for both ...More Info
Peru: SABMiller signs a contract with Global Water Engineering for a wastewater treatment plant ...More Info
Iran: Beer banned, smuggling and illegal production on the rise ...More Info
Kenya: Kenya’s beer market to be enlivened by a new local brand ...More Info
Go to our news database with more than 13288 articles.
Today with the possibility to be translated in 7 different languages!
DE FR SP IT PT RU CN

Brewery News

World: Beer output race 2007 – Russia third, leaving Germany behind for the first time since 1974

In 2007 Russia was ranked third by its beer production, for the first time leaving Germany behind, ITAR-TASS cited the report published by Kirin Holdings Co on August 8. The Japanese brewer has been registering world’s statistics since 1974.

On the whole, record 179.37 mln kilolitres of beer were brewed in the world over 2007, which is by 5.9% more than the 2006 index. Experts explain such drastic increase of global output by the riot economic growth of such nations as Brazil, India, China, and Russia, as well as by the rise of average world temperatures.

China remained the first by beer production volume for six years on end – 39.31 mln kilolitres, increasing its 2006 achievement by more than 13%. USA was ranked second with a small increase of 0.6% - 23.34 mln kilolitres.

In Russia, the rate of beer output grew by 16.1% and constituted 11.6 mln kilolitres.

Driven off to the fourth position, Germany brew 10.5 mln kilolitres of beer in 2007 – 2% less than in 2006.


Russia: Baltika & Sun InBev compete for growing beer market

Baltika Breweries, Russia's largest brewer, is investing heavily into niche beverages as it tries to grab a bigger slice of the ever-growing beer market, and other brewers are following suit, the Moscow Times reported on August 8.

"The beer industry is now trying to find niches in the market," said Daniil Briman, Baltika's vice president for corporate communications.

This is in sharp contrast to Soviet times, he said, when "we had two kinds of beer: piva nyet [there is no beer] and pivo yest [there is beer]."

The whirl of beer bottle shapes, colors, gimmicks and prices now weighing down shop shelves from St. Petersburg to Sakhalin belies the consolidated nature of the market and shows that this is no longer the case in Russia.

Today, besides the Baltika standards running from Zero to Nine, the firm also manufactures Baltika Lite and Baltika Cooler, as well as licensing and producing foreign beers such as Asahi, Tuborg, Carlsberg and Kronenbourg 1664. The company also produces regional Russian beers such as Yarpivo and Samara.

One of Baltika's main competitors, Sun InBev, whose best-known brand is perhaps Klinskoye, has a range of brands just as broad, encompassing everything from the Russian Sibirskaya Korona and Tolstyak to licensed brands ...More Info


Belgium: Analysts predict a small rise for InBev’s profits in Q2

InBev NV's core profit growth is seen slowing year-on-year in the second quarter amid rising costs and tough comparisons with 2007, as investors focus on the impact of the recent Anheuser-Busch takeover, Reuters posted on August 11.

Analysts forecast that the Belgium-based brewer will report a 0.8 percent rise in EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) to 1.24 billion euros from 1.23 billion.

With disappointing first-quarter results reported in May, the company acknowledged that 2008 was more challenging than the previous three years.

First-quarter EBITDA rose a modest 0.7 percent to 982 million in the first quarter of 2008, falling short of analysts' estimates.

Chief Executive Carlos Brito nevertheless expects EBITDA margins will rise in the second-half, fuelled by further cost cutting.

InBev, whose key international brands are Stella Artois, Beck's and Brahma, has had to cope with higher input costs, such as for barley.

Last year, it was overtaken by SABMiller Plc as the world's largest brewer by volume and it faces tough competition from rivals Heineken NV and Carlsberg A/S Carb.CO after they divided up Scottish & Newcastle in a 7.8 billion pound ($15.5 billion) takeover.

Investors will be looking out for news surrounding Inbev's $52 billion acquisition of Anheuser-Busch, which is ...More Info


Estonia: Shareholders approve Saku Õlletehase takeover by Carlsberg Estonia Holding

On the extraordinary general meeting held on 11th of August 2008, the shareholders of Saku Õlletehase AS approved the takeover by Carlsberg Estonia Holding OÜ of the shares of Saku Õlletehase Aktsiaselts held by the remaining shareholders, Carlsberg’s official site reported.

It was decided that the takeover will take place on the following terms:

• the fair compensation payable to the Minority Shareholders shall be EEK 194.06 (i.e. EUR 12.40) per each share of Saku Õlletehase Aktsiaselts that is subject to the takeover;

• the compensation in the amount set out in the previous section above has been determined on the assumption that the shares subject to takeover are not encumbered by pledge or other rights of third parties;

• the transfer of shares subject to takeover from the Minority Shareholders to Carlsberg Estonia Holding OÜ and the payment of compensation to Minority Shareholders shall be arranged by the registrar of the Estonian Central Register of Securities (“ECRS”) on the basis of the application of the Management Board of Saku Õlletehase Aktsiaselts. This application shall be submitted by the Management Board to the ECRS after the passage of one month as of the adoption of this resolution. The ...More Info


USA & Canada: Sapporo to increase beer output in North America

Japan's Sapporo Holdings Ltd. is considering raising its beer production capacity in North America, Jiji Press cited sources familiar with the matter on August 8.

The company plans to increase its annual capacity by about 50,000-60,000 kiloliters to help achieve its target of boosting its North America sales by 40 pct from present levels to 15 million cases by 2012.

One case contains the equivalent of 20 633-milliliter bottles.

The company believes that despite the slowing U.S. economy, premium beer demand among upper middle-class consumers is expected to grow.

Sapporo is expected to expand the capacity of a plant in Ontario, Canada. Other options include construction of a new plant in the United States and mergers and acquisitions, it is reported.

The company said it will make a final decision as early as the beginning of next year.

Sapporo's North American sales rose 6 pct to 10.63 million cases last year, backed by the popularity of Japanese food.


Finland: To prevent inflation, taxes on beer should not be increased

Higher taxes on alcoholic beverages earlier this year have led to inflation growth in Finland, the official site of the Union of Russian Brewers reported on August 8.

Inflation is at the moment the main problem for Finland and the main obstacle for competition. The nation’s Ministry of Finance suggested general reduction of the VAT rate on food and beverages(from 17% to 12%), which is a good decision to control inflation. However, the reduction does not affect all prices for food and beverages, since the VAT on alcoholic beverages is 22%. With growing costs of energy, raw materials, and labour, prices for beer, cider, and cocktails still tend to increase. In addition to suggested VAT changes, the government should refrain from raising taxes to control inflation in the country.

With the 10% increase of the excise duty on low-alcohol beverages in force since the beginning of 2008, the tax on beer in Finland grew to be the highest in the European Union, as in the United Kingdom.

Besides, new restrictions on advertising introduced in correspondence to the Law about alcohol cut down price competition, which has also furthered the increase of prices.

It was reported that Estonian companies providing passenger traffic between Helsinki and ...More Info


China: Tsingtao Brewery to expand overseas

Tsingtao Brewery Co., Ltd. is considering setting up new operating models in markets out of China in a bid to cut costs and strengthen competitiveness, SinoCast informed on August 11.

China’s second beer maker considers building up breweries in partnership with overseas companies and is looking for some brewers to produce products under the brand of Tsingtao, said Jin Zhiguo, chairman for the Qingdao company.

The company’s board of directors approved setting up a brewery in Thailand. If the plan makes a success, this model will be replicated in other markets including the US, added Mr. Jin.

The Qingdao beer maker, which is seeing increasing sales and customers in the domestic market, still takes a thin share in the international beer market. Tsingtao Brewery is able to produce 5.05 million kiloliters of beer a year but only exports 1% of them.


Ukraine: Obolon increasing beer output by 8.7%

Ukrainian brewing company Obolon manufactured 126 mln litres of beer in July 2008, High Way reported on August 11. Since the beginning of the year, the company produced 724 mln litres of beer thus increasing its output by 8.7% in comparison with the corresponding period in 2007.

In July, Obolon’s share in beer production amounted to 33.2%.

The brewer’s share on the domestic market in July was 28.4%.

Obolon’s export grew by 11.3% last month, which makes 75.6% of Ukraine’s total beer export.

Over the seven month of 2008, the share of Obolon in total output constituted 35.5%.

As of January – June 2008, the company’s share on domestic market is 30.4%.

The results of the seven month of 2008 show that the company’s export increased by 14.1% and constituted 76.1% of the total export of Ukrainian beer.


Malt News

Belarus: Belsolod malthouse increases malt output 2.9 times in H1 2008

Belarusian malthouse Belsolod, the country’s only producer of malt, increased its output 2.9 times to 48.948 thousand tonnes in January – July 2008, Prime-Tass cited the enterprise’s administration on August 11.

In money terms, Belsolod increased its production 2.9 times as well to BYR65.945 bln (USD1 = BYR2.114 as of August 1).

Export shipments grew 6 times to 32.8 thousand tonnes. In January – July, the malthouse exported its production to Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Moldova.

Public corporation Belsolod was established in 1996. Its annual output capacity is 65 thousand tonnes.


Barley News

Canada: Malting barley C$15 per tonne down - CWB Pool Return Outlook

The Canadian Wheat Board issued a mid-month malting barley Pool Return Outlook (PRO) for the 2008 – 2009 crop year. Malting barley values are down C$15 per tonne from the July 24, 2008, informed the board’s official site on August 7.

Designated barley Significant price volatility continues to characterize the international malting barley market as harvest progresses in the northern hemisphere. The price structure for malting barley is very sensitive to harvest conditions. Although there still is a long way to go before the 2008 harvest is completed, a large and generally good quality European barley harvest that is underway has weakened prices. This is affecting the price outlook for new sales of western Canadian malting barley.

European values have dropped by close to C$60 per tonne over the past two weeks. Although recent rains on the spring barley harvest in Europe caused some concerns about quality, the harvest has resumed and damage is not as extensive as in the previous two years. Rains during the past two weeks in Australia have helped stabilize the condition of the barley crop, especially in Western Australia.

General barley harvesting is just beginning in the United States and there are some problems with their six row crop ...More Info


Ireland: Irish barley growers resent low prices

A row is brewing between farmers and suppliers of malt over the price, Independent communicated on August 8. Farmers are claiming there is a worldwide shortage of the malting barley which is the key to the brewing process.

The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) says there is currently no shortage of the crop in Ireland, but if producers are not paid enough they may stop growing it.

However, a spokesman for one of the suppliers of the key ingredient -- Greencore Malt -- blamed lower prices paid to farmers on a worldwide "glut" of malting barley.

Growers are now being offered a price below what they were paid in the mid-80s, the IFA president Padraig Walshe said at a conference during Dublin Horse Show week at the RDS.

As Diageo, the brewers of Guinness, this week confirmed they are considering a price increase for a pint of the black stuff as well as for their beers, growers were being asked to take 20pc less for their barley, say farmers.

A spokesman for Greencore Malt, which supplies Diageo, said grain prices had in general "fallen dramatically" in the past few months on the continent and elsewhere.

"We have no choice but to reflect the prices," he said, ...More Info


Hops News

Czech Republic: A better harvest of 5,950 tonnes of hops is expected this year after the previous two weaker years

Czech hop growers expect a better harvest this year after the previous two weaker years, Bohumil Pazler, chairman of the Czech Hop Growers Association, was quoted as saying by ČTK on August 8.

Last year's hop harvest amounted to 5,630 tonnes, and this year around 5.950 tonnes of hops may be harvested, he said.

Hops are grown on 5.345 ha this year. Growers expect a per ha yield of 1.08 to 1.1 tonnes on average, against last year's 1.04 tonnes.

Hop prices are expected to grow by 15 to 20 percent year-on-year. Farmers want a minimum of Kc180.000 to Kc200.000 a tonne to cover their input costs and eliminate the strong crown effects.

Around 80 percent of the hop harvest is exported.

The hop fields rank the Czech Republic third after Germany and the USA. Hops were grown on 51.000 ha in the world last year.

Scientific Digest

Isolation and Identification of Potential Beer-Spoilage Pediococcus inopinatus and Beer-Spoilage Lactobacillus backi Strains Carrying the horA and horC Gene Clusters

Kazumaru Iijima, Koji Suzuki, Shizuka Asano, Hidetoshi Kuriyama and Yasushi Kitagawa

Abstract

J. Inst. Brew. 113(1), 96–101, 2007 Four beer-spoilage strains, LA20, LA21, LA22 and LA23, were isolated from brewery environments. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence, LA20 was identified as Pediococcus inopinatus and the remaining three were identified as Lactobacillus backi. The homologs of horA and horC, the hop resistance genes originally identified in L. brevis ABBC45, were detected simultaneously in LA22 and LA23, while only a horA homolog and a horC homolog were found in LA20 and LA21 respectively. The 5.6 kb DNA regions containing the horA homolog in LA20 and LA22 were almost 99% identical with the corresponding region of ABBC45. Similarly the 8.2 kb regions containing the horC homolog in LA21 and LA22 were more than 99% identical with that of ABBC45. Interestingly the horA-containing 5.6 kb regions in LA20 and LA22 were found to be completely identical despite the distinct genus status. Coupled with the fact that LA20 and LA22 were isolated from the same sampling site, these results, taken collectively, reinforce our hypothesis that horA and horC genes were acquired by beer-spoilage species through horizontal gene transfer and confirm the usefulness of horA and horC as genetic markers for the species-independent determination of beer-spoilage ability in lactic acid bacteria. Key words: Beer-spoilage ability, hop resistance gene, horA, horC, horizontal gene transfer, Lactobacillus backi, Pediococcus inopinatus Load full article, 6 pages, 145 Kb, PDF file


Barley Prices

French Malting Barley Prices. Nominal prices
EURO = USD 1.4978 August 12, 2008 
 Crop year   2007   2008 
 Parity   FOB Creil   FOB Creil 
 Position   July 2007   July 2008 
Type   Variety  EURO  USD  EURO  USD 
2RS  Scarlett  nq  nq  192.00  287.50 
2RS  Prestige  nq  nq  191.00  286.50 
2RS  Cellar  nq  nq  190.00  284.50 
2RS  Sebastien  nq  nq  189.00  283.50 
2RS  Tipple  nq  nq  189.00  283.50 
2RS  Henley  nq  nq  189.00  283.50 
6RW  Esterel   nq  nq  174.00  261.00 

French Feed Barley Prices. Nominal prices
EURO = USD 1.4978 August 12, 2008
Crop year 2008
Parity FOB Creil
Position July 2008
Type EURO USD
Feed Barley 154.00 231.00

Prices for Danish malting barley are available
on site www.e-malt.com/MarketPrices

Theoretical Malt Prices

EURO = USD 1.4978 August 12, 2008
Crop year  2007 
Parity  FOB Antwerp 
Position  Aug 2008 - Sep 2008 
Conditioning  Bulk   In bags  Bulk containers Bags, containers
Malting barley variety  EURO  USD  EURO  USD  EURO  USD  EURO  USD 
2RS  Scarlett  540.00  808.50  571.00  855.00  563.50  843.50  577.50  865.00 
2RS  Prestige  538.50  806.50  569.50  853.50  562.00  842.00  576.50  863.00 
2RS  Cellar  537.50  804.50  568.50  851.50  561.00  840.00  575.00  861.50 
2RS  Sebastien  536.00  803.00  567.50  849.50  559.50  838.00  574.00  859.50 
2RS  Tipple  536.00  803.00  567.50  849.50  559.50  838.00  574.00  859.50 
2RS  Henley  536.00  803.00  567.50  849.50  559.50  838.00  574.00  859.50 
2RS   Average price  537.50  804.50  568.50  851.50  561.00  840.00  575.00  861.50 
6RW  Esterel   504.50  757.00  536.50  803.50  529.00  792.00  543.00  813.50 
Asia Malt 70/30  527.50  790.50  559.00  837.00  551.50  825.50  565.50  847.00 
**  Asia Malt 50/50  521.50  781.00  552.50  827.50  545.00  816.00  559.00  837.50 


EURO = USD 1.4978 August 12,2008 
Crop year  2008 
Parity  FOB Antwerp 
Position  Oct 2008 - Sept 2009 
Conditioning  Bulk   In bags  Bulk containers Bags, containers
Malting barley variety  EURO USD EURO  USD EURO USD  EURO  USD
2RS  Scarlett  431.50  646.00  462.50  692.50  454.50  681.00  469.00  702.50 
2RS  Prestige  430.00  644.00  461.50  690.50  453.50  679.00  467.50  700.50 
2RS  Cellar  428.50  642.00  460.00  689.00  452.50  677.50  466.50  698.50 
2RS  Sebastien  427.50  640.50  458.50  687.00  451.00  675.50  465.50  697.00 
2RS  Tipple  427.50  640.50  458.50  687.00  451.00  675.50  465.50  697.00 
2RS  Henley  427.50  640.50  458.50  687.00  451.00  675.50  465.50  697.00 
2RS   Average price  428.50  642.00  460.00  689.00  452.50  677.50  466.50  698.50 
6RW  Esterel   408.00  612.50  440.50  659.50  432.50  648.00  447.00  669.00 
Asia Malt 70/30  423.00  633.50  454.00  680.00  446.50  668.50  460.50  690.00 
**  Asia Malt 50/50  419.00  627.50  450.00  674.00  442.50  662.50  456.50  684.00 

NB: Prices published are theoretical malt prices including financial cost, THC (for bulk and bags container) and all administrative costs. This prices may fluctuate according to the quantity per delivery and technical specifications.

* - 70/30 = 70% Average two Rows Spring and 30% Six Rows Winter
** - 50/50 = 50% Average two Rows Spring and 50% Six Rows Winter

Prices Evolution

Prices evolution

Table of the Week

US Barley Supply and Distribution

`000mt Harvested
Area (ha)
Yield
(mt)
Production Import TY
Imports
Exports TY
Exports
Feed
Dom.
Consum.
Domestic
Consum.
Ending
Stocks
2006/07  1194  3923  264  354  441  528  1209  4596  1500 
2007/08  1420  4612  653  600  901  1000  1330  4379  1485 
2008/09  1473  4742  435  435  544  550  1415  4571  1547 
Notes: Trading Year (TY) statistics are on Oct/Sept years. Source: USDA
Graph of the Week



These Days in Business History
August 11
1909 SOS 1st used by an American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC
1950 Steve Wozniak, future co-inventor of the Apple computer, is born.
1992 The world's largest shopping center, the US$650-million, 4.2-million-square-foot Mall of America, opens in Bloomington, Minnesota.

August 12
1856 Anthony Fass patents accordion
1877 Thomas Edison invents Edisonphone, a sound recording device
1960 Echo 1, 1st communications satellite, is launched

August 13
1623 Cardinal Richelieu appointed Chief Minister of France by Louis XIII
1907 1st taxicab in New York
1961 Construction on Berlin Wall begins in East Germany (Dark day)
Agenda