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• USA: Beer giant Anheuser-Busch is looking into a low carb version of its world famous Bud beer. Following the success of its low-carb beer Michelbo ...more info



• Denmark: The Annual General Meeting of Carlsberg A/S took place on March 18, 2004 in accordance with the enclosed agenda ...more info



• SUN Interbrew Limited, a leading brewer in Russia and Ukraine, announced on March 18 its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended 31 December 2003 ...more info



• Russian brewers plan to increase exports on an annual basis, industry officials said at an all-Russian meeting on developing Russia's brewing industry in Moscow on March 18 ...more info



• Slovakia: Heineken Slovensko plans to invest SKK 75 mln this year in the Gemer brewery in Slovakia, Gemer spokesman Stanislav Markus told the CTK news agency in February this year ...more info



• Ukraine: One of the first five brewers of Ukraine, Efes Ukraine, is planning to increase its authorized capital with 52.506 million hryvnas to 186.693 million hryvnas ...more info



• Canada: Companhia de Bebidas das Américas - AmBev (the “Company”) announced on March 17 that the Board of Directors of the Company approved, without any remarks, the merger of Labatt ...more info



• UK: Britain’s drinks industry has warned that an increase in beer duty and the ongoing threat of tax stamps designed to cut down on duty evasion, both announced by Chancellor ...more info



• Brazil: Shareholders of Companhia de Bebidas das Americas (AmBev) pressed on March 16 the Chief Financial Officer Felipe Dutra to explain the company's decision to sell a controlling stake ...more info



• Brazil: Companhia de Bebidas das Américas – AmBev, the world’s fifth largest brewer and Brazil’s leading Beverage Company, presented on March 16 at the BOVESPA further information regarding the synergies ...more info



• Australia: Lion Nathan Ltd, Australia's second-biggest brewer and the maker of Tooheys and XXXX, said on March 18 it had appointed a Nestle executive as its new chief executive ...more info



• The Danish Brewery Group A/S announced on 17 March 2004 the assumptions of and expectations for results for 2004, based on the results achieved in 2003 ...more info



• The Danish Brewery Group A/S announced on 17 March 2004 to the Copenhagen Stock Exchange its annual results 2003. Adjusted for the accounting implications of the closure ...more info

Brewery News

The Danish brewing force, Carlsberg A/S, announced on 18 March 2004 that it had been hit with a claim for damages from its former partner in Thailand for US$500 million. On 27 August 2003 Carlsberg terminated its licence agreement with Carlsberg Brewery (Thailand) Company Limited (CBTL) because of a failure by CBTL to perform its contractual obligations, not least the payment of royalties, which were due under the licence. CBTL is owned by Carlsberg’s former partner in Asia, Khun Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. CBTL has commenced an arbitration in Bangkok against Carlsberg and Carlsberg has now received a Statement of Claim from CBTL, which states that the notice of termination was invalid and that CBTL claims damages for a wide range of losses in amounts “to be established”, but which are expressed to be for a sum of no less than US$ 500million. Carlsberg and its external lawyers are convinced that CBTL's allegations are without any merit, that the termination of the licence is lawful and that no damages are payable by Carlsberg. “Furthermore, Carlsberg considers that the figure of US$ 500million is wholly unrealistic and lacks any factual basis. Only very limited volumes of Carlsberg beer were sold in Thailand in recent years. In the light of existing arbitration between Khun Charoen/Chang Beverages and Carlsberg in London, Carlsberg believes that the inclusion of such a figure in the Statement of Claim is no more than a tactic.”

Chile's largest brewer CCU said on March 17 that Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., maker of Budweiser beer, may sell its 20 % stake in the company after failing last year to challenge rival brewer Heineken's entry into the Chilean firm, Reuters revealed. Shares of CCU, which stands for Compania Cervecerias Unidas, fell sharply on the news. "Nothing is resolved yet and for that reason the market interpreted that the sale price would be lower than the current price. It's a bad sign for the stock in the short term," said Francisco Montaner, general manager of Euroamerica brokerage in Santiago. CCU said it would retain distribution agreements with Anheuser-Busch, but Montaner said this could be a further sign the American brewer is weakening in South America, after Belgium's Interbrew, announced earlier this month that it would consolidate its presence in the region, buying Brazilian giant AmBev. "My interpretation is that Anheuser-Busch came too late to the South American beer market," he said. Markets have speculated that Anheuser-Busch might withdraw from CCU since it protested last year after Dutch brewer Heineken, the world's third biggest brewer, indirectly bought a controlling stake in the company. In a note to Chile's stock market regulator, CCU said its board of directors had approved an "eventual secondary offer" by Anheuser of its shares but said such a move would not alter CCU's contracts to distribute the Budweiser brand in Argentina and Chile...more info

Africa: SABMiller plc announced on 18 March 2004 the establishment of two separate joint ventures with its pan-African partner the Castel Group ("Castel") in the French speaking territories of Algeria and Morocco (collectively "the transaction"). The Algerian joint venture has been effected by SABMiller acquiring a 25% direct interest in two Castel carbonated soft drink plants and one brewery in Algeria, together with a 15.78% stake in a second brewery, in which Castel is a majority shareholder. The Moroccan joint venture has been effected by SABMiller acquiring a 25% interest in a holding company which has controlling interests in three breweries, a malting plant and a wet depot in Morocco. As a consequence of these investments by SABMiller and its existing 20% stake in Castel's operations in Africa, these joint ventures are effectively owned 60% by Castel and 40% by SABMiller. The day-to-day operations of the joint ventures will be managed by Castel, which has a significant presence and expertise in French speaking Africa. The parties will co-operate in a number of important areas such as procurement and new technical initiatives, whilst drawing on the resources of the respective groups. In the year ended 31 December 2003 the joint venture businesses included in the transaction generated sales of US$86 million, comprising 1.2 million hectolitres of lager beer and 900 000 hectolitres of carbonated soft drink. SABMiller's direct investment in the joint venture businesses comprises US$25 million in the Algerian joint venture and US$21 million in the Moroccan joint venture. The initial impact of the transaction on SABMiller's earnings and gearing is expected to be neutral...more info

Russian brewery Ochakovo is to increase twice its beer exports to Japan this year, Russian Beer Union announced on March 18. The decision was taken according to the concluded agreements in Tokyo, Japan at the Foodex Japan exhibition, which took place between March 9 and March 12, 2004. Ochakovo realized the first shipments to Japan in June 2003. Since then the company has delivered to Japan 5.5 thousand litres of beer in glass bottles of 0.33 l. The main channel of sales is HoReCa segment: Ochakovo beer is sold in the restaurants of Russian cuisine. Now the company is to increase its beer sales in Japan by attracting new sales channels. Foodex Japan exhibition is the largest in Asia and attracts more than 2.5 thousand participants from 70 countries and about 100 thousand visitors. Ochakovo has participated at the exhibition for the first time.

Cambodia: A non-governmental organisation has accused Tiger Beer manufacturer Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) of exploiting Cambodian women to sell its products there, according to The Straits Times. Cambodia 'beer girls' become prostitutes as they paid a pittance, says an NGO Ian Lubek. APB-owned Cambodia Breweries distributes Tiger, Anchor, ABC Stout and Heineken beer there. Heineken, a Dutch beer-maker, owns 34 % of APB. A similar charge has been levelled against several other breweries, including American company Anheuser-Busch, which makes Budweiser, and Danish beer-maker Carlsberg. The NGO, Siem Reap Citizens for Health, Education and Social Issues (SiRCHESI), says the women are paid a pittance and have to turn to prostitution to make ends meet. Besides, it says, some do so to lure customers so they can fulfil their sales target and earn incentives. It also claims that, according to a study conducted in Siem Reap from 2000 to last year, 20 per cent of the beer promotion girls had contracted Aids as a result of the 'beer-and-flesh' trade. APB's spokesman, senior manager Sarah Koh, said the company was working with the Cambodian branch of Care, a global humanitarian group, to tackle the problem. She said: 'Since July last year, we have been running a joint programme for beer promotion girls in Cambodia named 'Selling Beer Safely'.' It teaches promoters of APB brands and Heineken to be assertive and decline inappropriate propositions from customers. They are also made aware of the dangers of Aids and how the HIV virus is transmitted...more info

Malt News

Europe: On May 1 of this year ten more countries will join the EU. Malt exports of the new members in 2002 were close to 400,000 tonnes, of which 179,000 tonnes from the Czech Republic, 161,000 tonnes from Slovakia and 47,000 tonnes from Hungary. Malt imports of all ten countries were about 320,000 tonnes, the largest importer being Poland with 160,000 tonnes. Trade channels will not change much in the beginning, but a few factors will make a difference in the future, e.g. the geographical situation of the Czech Republic in the middle between Austria, Germany and Poland and the abolition of all export subsidies in the Czech and Slovak Republics.

Barley News

New Zealand: Last month's floods may put up the price of a pint of beer – at least for the manufacturer, local media agent Stuff.co posted on March 18. Both the brewing and animal-feed industries are facing a shortage of grains after crops were damaged or destroyed by last month's flooding. Dave Allan, raw materials manager at the International Malting Co in Marton, said the drought in the South Island and the floods in the North Island had created an unprecedented shortage of malting barley. Malting barley may have to be imported, which has never happened before, although processed barley has been imported on rare occasions. The New Zealand brewing industry normally sources 100 per cent of its barley from the domestic market. He could not say for sure how this would affect the price of a pint. New Zealand growers usually have a fixed contract price. "If you have to import, the cost may not be the same. Until you go down that track, you just don't know," Mr Allan said. "If you want to go down and buy a loaf of bread every week, you expect it to be the same quality. If you buy a bottle of beer every week, you expect it to be the same quality. But the quality (of the malting barley) is basically inferior to what we'd expect. In a year like this, there are no winners. "It's probably our worst situation in living memory. Our quality is a lot less and our volumes are a lot less." He said the South Island had been heading into a drought and then experienced a month of humidity that ruined a lot of crops. The North Island was looking at a good year until the floods obliterated large areas of crops. "We principally rely on crops grown at one time of the year, which is spring. The downstream effects will be with us for the next 12 months. It's a long way to go yet," Mr Allan said...more info

Canada: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, published new grains forecast on March 12, 2004. For 2003-04, barley exports are forecast at 2.5 Mt, versus 0.9 Mt in 2002-03. Carry-out barley stocks are forecast to increase by 53%, to 2.2 Mt. For 2004-05, barley production is forecast to decrease slightly, as lower area more than offsets higher yields. Total supplies are expected to rise slightly. Domestic use is forecast to increase due to higher feed demand. Exports are projected to fall slightly to 2.4 Mt, as lower feed barley exports, as a result of stronger competition from Europe, are expected to more than offset higher demand for malting barley from China. Carry-out stocks are expected to rise by 9% from 2003-04 to 2.4 Mt. Off-Board feed barley prices are forecast to average $125/t for No.1 Feed, cash I/S Lethbridge, the same as for 2003-04. The February CWB PRO for 2004-05 for No.1 CW feed barley is $128/t, I/S VC/SL, $29/t below 2003-04. The February CWB PRO for Special Select Two Row designated barley is $164/t, versus $197/t for 2003-04.

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

Malting barley prices. French barley prices. Nominal prices.

EURO = USD 1.2393 March 19, 2004
Crop year		2003		2004
Parity		FOB Creil		FOB Creil
Position		July 2003		July 2004
Type	Variety	EURO	USD	EURO	USD
2RS	Scarlett	125.00	155.00	128.00	159.00
2RS	Prestige/Cellar	124.00	154.00	127.00	157.50
2RS	Aspen	123.00	152.50	126.00	156.50
2RS	Optic	123.00	152.50	126.00	156.50
2RS	Astoria	122.00	151.50	125.00	155.00
2RS	Cork	122.00	151.50	125.00	155.00
6RW	Esterel	nq	nq	117.00	145.00

nq - Not quoted

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

Graph of the week

Agenda

March 2004: PIVEX - INTERNATIONAL 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, the international exhibition of beer, technology and equipment; China Drinktec 2004. China International Exhibition on Beverage and Brewing Processing Technology
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;
May 2004: EBC SYMPOSIUM 'FOOD SAFETY & TRACEABILITY'; CANADEAN'S 4th INTERNATIONAL BEER CONFERENCE; CITBUSMED 2004; PIVO, GASTRO, BAKERY / Bulgaria; ALCO + SOFT 2004 / Ukraine; FOOD & DRINKS/FOOD TECHNOLOGY 2004 / Moldova; Beer International Brewing Technology Exhibition / Russia;

More events are available on site e-malt.com

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