The shipments of beer and beer-like beverages by five Japanese brewers: Kirin Brewery Co., Asahi Breweries Ltd., Suntory Ltd., Orion Breweries Ltd. and Sapporo Breweries Ltd., increased year-on-year by 3.9% in September 2005, Kyodo News communicated on October 13. The increase is the second straight monthly rise for the companies and was attributed to high temperatures in the country.

The shipments for September totaled 42.98 million cases. One case has 12.66 liters, or the equivalent of 20 633-mlliliter bottles.

Real beer shipments slipped by 1.8% for the brewers, to 22.9 million cases. Shipments of happoshu low-malt beer dropped by 22.5%, registering a 14th consecutive month of year-on-year decrease. Third-category beer shipments accounted for 18.6% of total shipments and increased 3.3-fold to 8 million cases in the month.

Japanese breweries have registered positive results in the third-category thanks to lower liquor taxes for the segment.

Beer sales in Bulgaria for January-September period amounted to 3,476 million hectoliters, which represents an increase of 1.7% year-on-year, according to the report of Union of Brewers in Bulgaria. The sales figures do not include the business of locally-owned beer makers like Ledenika and MM which are not UBB members.

The average beer consumption per capita in Bulgaria was of 61 liters in 2004, up from 56 liters in 2003 and 51 liters in 2002. In September, beer sales dropped to 365,163 hectoliters from 563,226 hectoliters in the previous month. Kamenitza AD, part of the world's biggest brewer by volume InBev, leads both September the year-to-date sales.

This brewery added last month 151,735 hectoliters to its year-to-date sales which now are at 1.219 mln hectoliters. Zagorka Heineken was on the second place in September with sales of 112,381 hectolitres. The beer maker has sold 1.114 mln hectoliters in the first 9 months of the year.

On the third place was Carlsberg Bulgaria, which rums beer factories in Shumen and Blagoevgrad, with sales of 61,610 hectoliters in September and 743,539 hectoliters for the first 8 months of 2005.

Beer Thai are said, according to analysts, to have covered their 2006 demand of 130,000 tones, the larger part in Australia, another part, mostly malt of winter barley, from the EU.

Prices must have been very aggressive, i.e. loss-producing, from the European sellers. Market prices of EU maltsters should be at least ? 240.-/ ? 250.- FOB, in bulk in vessel for two row spring barley malt, ? 10.- / ? 20.- more for shipment in bulk in container, but sales prices to-date have been much lower.

EU Maltsters realize that their industry is stuck in a deep crisis. Analysts believe, that malsters realize that Eastern Europe and the Mercosur countries can produce barley and malt of good quality at lower prices, they know that globalisation cannot be stopped.

Therefore it was expected that new mergers, closures or other constructive steps would be announced at the recent gathering of the world's industry, the "drinktec" of Munich. But almost nothing happened.

Heineken admitted that their 30,000 tons malthouse at Sevilla would be shut, in connection with the transfer of the brewery out of the inner city. Rumours made the round that following the closure of Cargill's Jefferson Junction malthouse more capacities would be shut down in the U.S. and Canada.

This year's supply of spring malting barley in the EU is 8.5 to 9.0 million tones, winter malting barley around 2 million tones vs. a total barley demand of 10 million tones.

The quality only of these 10.5 to 11 million tones is within or close the traditional parameters: 10.0 to 11.5 % protein, 90 % full barley, sound barley of natural colour. However, France, Germany, the Czech and Slovak Republics harvested barley crops, which were inferior to last year's and even average crops in quantity and quality.

High protein in France, especially in the eastern parts, poor grain size in Southwest Germany, weather damage (fusarium, even splits and sprouted kernels) in Eastern Bavaria, Bohemia and Eastern Slovakia.

An apparently tight balance of supply and demand led to firm markets during the harvest period, but markets have come down during the past month, however, without even approaching last year's lows

In 2004 the number of hop-growing farms in the Czech Republic fell slightly to 162. Compared with 2003, the average hop acreage remained virtually unchanged at 36 ha per farm, according to Barth Report.

While hop acreage was expanded by 10 ha in the Auscha region, it decreased by 99 ha in Saaz and by 15 ha in Tirschitz. The average yields of the traditional Saaz variety varied from one growing region to another: Saaz 0.96 mt/ha, Auscha 1.06 mt/ha, Tirschitz 1.39 mt/ha. The alpha content in Saaz hops averaged 3.7% across all the growing regions, significantly exceeding the previous year’s figure of 3.0%. The same applies to the results for the other varieties (figures for crop year 2003 in brackets): Sl?dek 5.4% (3.5%), Premiant 8.7% (5.9%), Bor 6.8% (4.6%), Agnus 11.0% (10.1%

All the hops from the 2004 crop were sold on the basis of forward contracts. Forward contracts already account for 97% of the 2005 crop. There is a reduction in hop acreage of approx. 100 ha in 2005.