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• USA: Anheuser-Busch announced on February 25 that it unveils new alcohol awareness campaign. One of the most-watched television events of the year will be the stage ...more info



• Japan: Asahi Breweries, Ltd., has formulated the Second Asahi Breweries Group Medium-Term Management Plan, incorporating the shared values of "challenges and creation." ...more info



• Dutch brewing force, Heineken, reported strong sales growth last year, driven by acquisitions, but impaired profitability as currency movements took their toll ...more info



• Serbia and Montenegro: The sale of a centuries-old brewery has radically changed life in this quiet country town, turning many locals into dinar millionaires in a rare rags-to-riches tale in impoverished Serbia ...more info



• Heineken is set to close five breweries in Europe, Dutch news reports said today. The Dutch brewer was reported to have said at a press conference that five of Austrian brewer BBAG’s 22 breweries will be closed ...more info



• Grolsch posted on February 25 a slight rise in net profit. The Dutch brewer today posted a net profit in 2003 of €30.4m, compared to €30.1m in 2002 ...more info



• The Finnish brewer and soft drink producer Olvi plc, part of the Olvi Group, said on February 26 that its 2003 total sales amounted to 97 million litres, which was 4.9% less than a year earlier ...more info



• USA, Seattle: Pyramid Breweries Inc. announced on February 26 that Martin Kelly is stepping down as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer ...more info



• Latin America: Columbian beer maker, Bavaria, reported on February 26 its 2003 results. Company’s net income reached 97.9 billion pesos (US$37.6 million) in 2003 ...more info



• British beer maker, Greene King, has bought 50,000 of its own shares at 947 pence each, the brewer announced on February 26 ...more info

Brewery News

The Philippine government, through the Presidential Commission on Good Government, or PCCG, has nominated two new directors to the board of food and drink group San Miguel Corp, Dow Jones reported on February 27. PCGG documents showed the new nominees would join three other government directors in the company who were appointed previously and were retained by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The new nominees, who represent the interest of state-controlled Coconut Industry Investment Fund, or CIIF, in San Miguel are Bank of the Philippine Islands director Octavio Victor Espiritu and banker Egmidio de Silva Jose. They replace lawyer Hector Hofilena and Nestle Philippines Inc. former chief executive officer Juan Santos. Earlier this month, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the Philippines Bureau of Internal Revenue is chasing the company for PHP880 million (US$15.7 million) in back taxes.

Australia: Interbrew, The World's Local Brewer© - and Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), have signed a distribution agreement which gives CUB the right to import, distribute and market Interbrew's global specialty premium brands - Leffe® and Hoegaarden® - until 2012 in Australia, Interbrew announced on February 26. The distribution agreement follows the success CUB has had with Interbrew's premium portfolio of Belgian beer brands for several years. It reaffirms the commitment the two companies made to each other in 2002, when they signed a ten-year license contract giving CUB the right to brew, distribute and market Stella Artois®, one of Interbrew's global premium brands and one of the fastest growing premium beers in the Australian market. Australian beer drinkers' consumption habits are changing - they are becoming more experimental, seeking out new experiences and taste profiles which fall outside the traditional Australian mainstream beer territory. As a result, the Australian premium beer market is growing at around 12% per year, outperforming the total beer market by seven percentage points*. CUB's share of the Australian premium beer market is 55.3%*. Belgian beers, in particular, have enjoyed a massive surge in popularity over the past few years. Interbrew's specialty brands like Hoegaarden®, the white beer, and the Leffe® range of Abbey beers have grown more than 80% and 70% per year respectively** in the past year alone...more info

Mexico: Fomento Economico Mexicano, S.A. de C.V. (FEMSA), the Leader in Latin Beverages, reported on February 26 its operational and financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2003. FEMSA total revenues increased 37.0% reaching Ps. 75.891 billion during 2003 with a consolidated operating margin of 16.0%. FEMSA Cerveza's domestic and export beer sales volume increased 5.2% to 5.820 million hectoliters and 2.9% to 419 million hectoliters respectively during 4Q03, in large part due to successful promotions with our Sol brand in Mexico and our Dos Equis and Tecate brands in the U.S. Jose Antonio Fernandez, Chairman and CEO of FEMSA, commented, "During the fourth quarter and full year 2003, our company continued to strengthen its competitive position in Mexico and Latin America and I am pleased to report a ninth consecutive year of operating income growth. Today we operate in nine Latin American countries, up from two last year, and export to many key markets around the World. The Panamco acquisition confirmed FEMSA as a serious regional contender, but our challenge now is to ensure that the synergies and economies of scale of our new platform deliver lasting results for our employees, consumers, and shareholders." FEMSA is the leading beverage company in Latin America. It controls an integrated beverage platform that comprises the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the region, Coca-Cola FEMSA; the second largest brewer in Mexico and important beer exporter to the United States, FEMSA Cerveza; and Oxxo, the largest and fastest growing convenience store chain in Mexico with over 2,750 stores.

Germany: On 24 February 2004, the German Federal Cartel Office approved the Bitburger Group’s proposed acquisition of German breweries König-Brauerei and Licher Privatbrauerei, Carlsberg A/S posted on February 26. With this approval, one of the conditions for the takeover offer from Carlsberg Breweries to the shareholders of Holsten-Brauerei AG has been fulfilled. The remaining conditions not yet fulfilled relate inter alia to the EU Commission's clearance of the takeover of Holsten-Brauerei and the achievement of a level of acceptance of no less than 75 per cent of the issued Holsten shares. The acceptance period for the takeover offer expires on 18 March 2004 at 12:00 noon (CET).

China: Yanjing Beer Zhejiang Xiandu Co. has bought Shejiang Bihu Beer Co Ltd, according to Beijing Business Today. The press has reported that Yanjing, a subsidiary of Beijing Yanjing Beer Group Corp., bought the company at auction for RMB27.6 million (US$3.3 million). The newspaper quoted the group’s vice-president Ding Guangxue as saying that the purchase is not an indication that it is moving into a new round of mergers and acquisitions, however, as Zhejiang Bihu Beer is only a small player with an annual beer production of around 10,000 tons. According to the report, Zhejiang Bihu Beer is now able to repay more than RMB9.9m in debt. Beijing Yanjing Brewery Group Corporation is now the largest brewery in China with an annual capacity of 850,000 tons of beer production. It is as well as one of the 100 biggest beverage producers of the country. It has found its way to become one of the 500 most profitable enterprises of China lining up well among the first 100 .YBGC covers 85% of Beijing's beer market and 25% of Tianjin's market. Yanjing beer can be found in almost all parts of the country. Supported by its modern management and excellent quality control, Yanjing beer can be found on most consumer's tables.

Malt News

Germany: In spite of the concentration of the German brewing industry there are still a large number of independent brewers of any size. As there is also a large overcapacity, competition in the beer market is fierce. Brewers, and especially the large powerful groups will exert pressure on all their suppliers, not only maltsters, in order to reduce the cost of their raw material and other items needed in the production and selling process. There is also the known overcapacity in the EU malting industry, and virtually no maltster in Europe comes close to the market power of the a.m. brewing groups. Maltsters will pass on the pressure to the barley market, but they will only succeed to purchase at low prices, if there is a large enough grain crop and a large enough offer of malting barley. Farmers collected high prices for their malting barley this year, but certainly not a good premium for malting barley above feed barley, wheat and rapeseed. The pressure on malting barley premiums has started to backfire this year, as farmers have reduced malting barley acres to some extent, compared to 2002 (2003 was an irregular year). Farmers' turning away from malting barley could develop into an avalanche in coming years.

Barley News

Australia: Harvesting is virtually finished; a crop figure between 7.75 and 8.0 million tonnes is reported, according to analysts. The barley is sound of fair to good quality. Proteins are low, 8-9 % for a large part of the crop. That is one of the reasons that the Australians expect only 30-35 % of their receivals to be of malting quality. After deduction of the local malting demand of 800,000 tonnes it would leave an export surplus of 1.5 to 2.0 million tonnes. Such a surplus figure looks small, as Australia not only sells to China, but also to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, South Africa and South America. On top of it, the premium for malting above feed barley is unrewarding, as everywhere this year.

Theoretical malt prices.

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

Theoretical malt prices for crop 2004 are available on site www.e-malt.com/MarketPrices

Malt Price Evolution

	Maximum average price for 2RS Malt, crop 2003: 308.50 EUR/tonne - in November 2002
	Minimum average price for 2RS Malt, crop 2003: 260.00 EUR/tonne - in June 2003
	Maximum average price for 6RW Malt, crop 2003: 280.50 EUR/tonne - in November 2002
	Minimum average price for 6RW Malt, crop 2003: 248.00 EUR/tonne - in July 2003

Source: E-malt.com

Malting barley prices. French barley prices. Nominal prices.

EURO = USD 1.2435 February 27, 2004
Crop year		2003		2004
Parity		FOB Creil		FOB Creil
Position		July 2003		July 2004
Type	Variety	EURO	USD	EURO	USD
2RS	Scarlett	130.00	162.00	130.00	162.00
2RS	Prestige/Cellar	129.00	160.50	129.00	160.50
2RS	Aspen	128.00	159.50	128.00	159.50
2RS	Optic	128.00	159.50	128.00	159.50
2RS	Astoria	127.00	158.00	127.00	158.00
2RS	Cork	127.00	158.00	127.00	158.00
6RW	Esterel	nq	nq	118.00	147.00

nq - Not quoted

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

Graph of the week

Agenda

February 2004: Pianeta Birra - Beverage & Co. International Show of Beers, Beverages; Orges brassicoles 2004: Des perspectives nouvelles de marchés; HOFEX 2004 Food & Drink; Canadian Food & Beverage Show; BIEREXPO; GrainWorld 2004;
March 2004: PIVEX - Brewing & Malting Fair; New York City Real Beer Festival; Real Ale Festival; The Night of Large Thirst; Zythos Beer Festival; International course - Malting and Brewing Science; ALIMENTARIA 2004; FOODEX Japan 2004; ANTAD 2004; FOOD & DRINK EXPO 2004; Forth Russian Conference on Non-alcoholic Beer; 2004 BIENNIAL CONVENTION; Beer Auction 2004; China Drinktec 2004
April 2004: InterFood; INTERFOOD UZBEKISTAN /INTERFOODTECH 2004; INTERFOOD ST. PETERSBURG 2004; SIBFOODEXPO 2004; BEER. WINES & DRINKS International Beer; World Beer Cup; 2004 National Craft Brewers Conference; FOODASIA 2004; ASTANA FOOD 2004; INTERFOOD AZERBAIJAN/ INTERFOODTECH 2004; 43rd MBAA District Caribbean Convention; IFEX 2004; EXPOVIVIENDA 2004;

More events are available on site e-malt.com

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