1. Trading offer & request

At this moment there is one OFFER for 2000 tons of malt on the trading portal www.e-malt.com

• Offer for 1000-2000 mtons of malt, 6RW Esterel, crop 2002, bulk, delivery 1/5/2003 - 31/7/2003, at EUR 271.00 /mton, FOB Antwerp. (to see and make a bid to the malt offer, please click here to view code MF1804P1353)
  
  

 Top Industry News 

• On April 22, 2003, Russia-based brewer, Heineken, is launching its free-alcohol beer brand Buckler in St. Petersburg city ... Click here
  
  
• Beer production in Russia decreased by 5% in the first quarter of the current year in comparison with the same period last year ... Click here
  
  
• Beer consumption in Ukraine grew three times for the last ten years. The quota of beer in all beverage consumption in Ukraine accounted 8% in 1992 ... Click here
  
  
• China reports construction of 3 new malt houses with a combined capacity of 500 thousand tons ... Click here
  
  
• Ukraine produced about 45.6 thousand tons of brewer’s malt during the first quarter of 2003 year ... Click here
  
  
• Major malting barley exporters. Click here
  
  
• The predictable exportable surplus of malting barley out of the E.U for the crop 2003, weather permitting, is close to 1.5 million tons ... Click here
  
  
• In Canada selection of malting barley of crop 2002 amounted to 900 thousand tons. Deliveries to-date are 650 thousand tons ... Click here
  
  

More news is available on site www.e-malt.com  

• The Norwegian brewer, Ringnes, is to close two of its four breweries in Norway, Norwegian press reported on April 22, 2003 ...more info



• Interbrew UK is launching the first advertising campaign for its Australian beer brand, Castlemaine XXXX, since it took over the brand earlier this year ...more info



• The Government Information Office (GIO) has reportedly asked famous mainland brand Tsingtao Beer to pull off TV and radio commercials in Taiwan ...more info



• Russian brewer Ostankisky increased its beer production by 5% during the first quarter of the year versus the same period last year ...more info



• Shareholders in the Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo have approved a cash dividend of 0.5412 peso per share from 2002 profits - a 55.3% increase in real terms ...more info



• Russian brewery Tinkoff output a special brand of wheat beer Bellye Nochi (White nights) for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg city ...more info



• Turkish company Efes Beverage Group will start the bottling of Melnik brand at the Chernomor brewery based in Ukraine, Odessa city ...more info




2. Brewery News

On April 22, 2003, Russia-based brewer, Heineken, is launching its free-alcohol beer brand Buckler in St. Petersburg city. That is the first nonalcoholic beer brand produced in Russia by a foreign company. According to Business Analytika, 1.7% of beer market is held by nonalcoholic beer. During 2002 that index increased from 1.6% in January to 2% in December. Free-alcohol beer Baltika N 0 holds 44% of this specific market, Sokol – 23% and Bochkariov – 16%. Produced in St. Petersburg, Buckler, will be sold for RUB 25 per bottle. Imported Buckler was sold only in pubs and restaurants for about RUB 60 per 0.33 l bottle. Heineken chose Buckler, as it is very popular in Europe and holds there 30% of free-alcohol beer market...more info

Beer production in Russia decreased by 5% in the first quarter of the current year in comparison with the same period last year. Russian brewers accuse the government of the decline, as it increased the excise-duty on beer by 25% with effect from January 1, 2003. However, analysts attribute the decrease to the rapid burst of beer production last year. According to them 2003 year will be a favorable one for the branch. During the first quarter 2003 Russian brewers produced about 140.1 million dekalitres of beer versus 147.3 million dekalitres in the first quarter last year. According to analysts Russian beer market will increase by 8% during 2003 year. Last year Russian brewers output about 702 million dekalitres of beer...more info

Beer consumption in Ukraine grew three times for the last ten years. The quota of beer in all beverage consumption in Ukraine accounted 8% in 1992 year and 12% in 2002 year. The same index regarding vodka decreased from 5.2% down to 2.2%. The culture of beer consumption is appearing in Ukraine. Ukrainians consume about 29 litres of beer per capita per year, while Russians – 45.

3. Malt News

China reports construction of 3 new malt houses with a combined capacity of 500 thousand tons. The new factories should increase demand for imported barley. They will not have a great influence on the world malt market. Due to import duties, logistics and other factors, China has been neither an importer nor an exporter of large quantities of malt.

Ukraine produced about 45.6 thousand tons of brewer’s malt during the first quarter of 2003 year, 2.5 thousand tons more than for the same period last year. In March the production of brewer’s malt increased by 15.6% versus March 2002 and reached 17.6 thousand tons. Analysts attribute the increase to the production optimization at malting plants and to the expected increase in beer demand after seasonal recession. In 2002 Ukraine produced 164.91 thousand tons of brewer’s malt.

4. Barley News

Major malting barley exporters.

In thousand tons.

Region	2002-03	2003-04
Australia	1,300	1,500
EU	1,500	1,200
Canada	450	1,100
Argentina	125	175
USA	100	125
Other	225	300
Total	3,700	4,400



Peter Watts.
Market Analyst, Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States, CWB, Winnipeg, Canada.

Source: Conference GrainWorld 2003 presentations.

The predictable exportable surplus of malting barley out of the E.U for the crop 2003, weather permitting, is close to 1.5 million tons, compared to 1.8 million tons in the previous grain year. This situation, coupled with the reduced total carry-over from the previous grain year (~3.9 million tons only), should tease the market. Nothing like this happens and the barley prices continue to slump since October last year.

In Canada selection of malting barley of crop 2002 amounted to 900 thousand tons. Deliveries to-date are 650 thousand tons, and a final figure near 800 thousand tons is anticipated. Maltsters fear a loss of germination of stored barleys leading to malting problems in spring and summer, but there is also at least one reseller in Canada of a cargo of French Esterel barley, which he purchased for safety of supplies earlier in the campaign. Winter in the Canadian Prairies had been warmer than in past years. There have been rain and snowfalls during winter, more is needed before spring planting. Especially Alberta is still too dry. A larger acreage of barley is planned, but the question is whether there is enough seed for malting barley. So far official forecasters predict a normal crop...more info