1. Trading offer & request

At this moment there are two OFFERS for 6500 tons of malt on the trading portal www.e-malt.com

• Offer for 300-2500 mtons of malt, ASIA 50/50 2RS&6RW, crop 2003, in bags in containers, delivery 1/12/2003 - 31/3/2004, at EUR 281.50/mton, FOB Antwerp. (to see and make a bid to the malt offer, please click here to view code MF2608P1633)
  
  
• Offer for 200-4000 mtons of malt, 2RS Scarlet/Aspen, crop 2003, bulk in container, delivery 1/11/2003 - 31/12/2003, at EUR 274.00/mton, FOB Antwerp. (to see and make a bid to the malt offer, please click here to view code MF2608P1643)
  
  

 Top Industry News 

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

• Yanjing Brewery, the Chinese brewer has registered a 2.14 % rise of its net profit up to CNY116.20 million for the first six months of the current fiscal year ...more info



• Hampered by a very weak economy, an ageing population and growing concerns about alcohol consumption in general, Germany's beer market declined further in 2002 ...more info



• Bryggerigruppen, the Denmarks’s beer maker, has posted a pre-tax profit of DKr36.7m (US$5.35m) for the first half of the year, a decline of 49% from DKr72.5m in the first half of pervious year ...more info



• British regional brewer and pubs group Greene King Plc said on Friday that trading in the first 12 weeks of its financial year was a little ahead of expectations across all areas of its business ...more info



• Japan total beer shipments, including low-malt "happoshu", dropped 12 % in July from a year ago, taking a heavy toll on breweries, which had already been hurt by a tax rise in May on happoshu ...more info



• Carlsberg Breweries will find it easier to raise cash in the event of an investment opportunity if it was listed on the stock exchange, the company’s CEO said in a statement ...more info

2. Brewery News

The UK brewer Scottish & Newcastle announced that the group had strengthened its positions in its core markets and continues to make significant progress in developing its beer business, most notably through the HP Bulmer and Central de Cervejas transactions which were announced after the year end. “Operationally, the results announced for the year to April 2003 demonstrate a robust performance in difficult markets,” the company’s Chairman, Sir Brian Stewart said at the Annual General Meeting on August 28. Since May, beer markets in most of Western Europe have been aided by hot and dry weather which has boosted seasonal demand. In contrast, the weather in Northern and Eastern Europe was wet and cold in the early part of the summer. “Overall, trading performance for the year has been positive, with improving trends in our three major businesses, the UK, France, and Russia. We are confident of meeting our financial and commercial objectives for the year,” Sir Brian Stewart said...more info

Russian brewer Baltika, jointly held by Carlsberg and Scottish & Newcastle said on August 26 its first half net profit declined to $64.41 million from $72.08 million in 2002. "A sharp increase in excise taxes at the beginning of 2003 negatively affected the sales volumes. Net sales declined six percent compared to 2002 and fell two percent more than gross sales," Baltika said in a statement. Gross sales were down to $368.87 million from $384.93 million, the brewer said, while net sales took a further hit from rising excises. Net sales fell to $336.05 million from $356.37 million, while excise taxes rose to $32.82 million from $28.56 million. Baltika, Russia's biggest brewer, has led a chorus of industry complaint about rising excise taxes, saying the government is stifling what should be a growing business in a country where beer consumption is low by European standards. It blames the rising price of beer for declining consumption. The accounts, calculated to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, showed operating profit down to $84 million from $76 million, further pressured by an increase in selling, general and administrative expenses, though cost of goods sold fell.

Harbin Brewery Group Ltd, the Chana’s fourth largest brewer, has reported a 14% fall of its net profit down to HK$45.76m (US$5.86m) in the first six months of the current fiscal year, versus HK$53.22m in the first half of last year. Operating profit fell 13% to HK$93.1 million from HK$107.5 million. Harbin, said the decline is due to the impact of the SARS epidemic, which squeezed business in bars and restaurants. "With stringent cost-control measures and effective management practices, the group is set to recapture its market share and a higher profit margin in the second half of this year, so as to make up for the undesirable outcomes caused by SARS," said CEO, Peter Lo. However in the first six months sales rose by 20% to HK$658.1m but Harbin said the percentage of sales represented by premium brands declined. The company's premium beer sales to restaurants and bars fell by 20% in May and June, the company said. Earlier in the year, Harbin agreed to sell a 30% stake to the international beer group, SABMiller.

Quinenco, the Chilean holding company, which partly controls the country's largest brewer, Compania Cervecerias Unidas SA (CCU), reported a first-half net profit of CHP40.36 billion, against a net loss of CHP18.64 billion in the first half of last year. Group sales fell from CHP203.34 billion to CHP184.32 billion.

3. Malt News

Netherlands: Bavaria is building a malting plant with a production capacity of 120/180 kt at Delfzijl (North-East of Groningen)

4. Barley News

Ukraine, AgriMarket.Info: Rather a complicated situation arose last week in the market of feed barley. Market operators reported about numerous protractions on the part of authorities, issuing quarantine and phyto-sanitary certificates for not yet exported, but already contracted volumes of feed barley. Corresponding governmental bodies have given no public comments of their actions and published no official documents in this respect. As a result, the exports of feed barley at the moment have become virtually impossible in any civilised frameworks. No new contracts for supplies of feed barley from Ukraine were concluded last week, and bidding prices of most of the exporters, after some period of oscillations, started to drop. Towards the end of the week the range of bids constituted 700 to 760 hryvnias per tonne on a CPT-port and 650 to 700 hryvnias per tonne on an EXW basis (5.33 hryvnias = $1). Bidding prices for feed barley somewhat dropped, which, in turn, somewhat pushed up grain owners to sales. On the whole, no sharp deficit of this grain has been observed. The level of bidding price has dropped not everywhere. Barley in ports was still being bought at 720 to 760 hryvnias per tonne on a CPT basis (5.33 hryvnias = $1). The range of bidding prices on an EXW basis was most often voiced between 630 and 680 hryvnias per tonne

Heat Harms Canadian Malting Barley, High Plains Journal reported on August 26. High temps in the Canadian Prairie provinces have lowered malting barley quality, industry sources told Resource News, and production estimates have been reduced as well. The Canadian Wheat Board is now expecting a crop of 11.4 million metric tons, down from 12.7 MT estimated earlier. That's still more than the 7.3 MT produced in 2003. Forced maturity, caused by the heat, has made for thin, light weight barley with variable protein -- not what maltsters want. Optimal protein levels are around 11%, and this year's crop could be up to 17%. There is also concern about grasshopper damage. Samples have had as high as 15% grasshopper nibbles, which is "totally unacceptable" according to a CWB barley analyst.

Newsletter Links Improvement

Dear E-malt Reader!

In order to make our newsletter more useful & intuitive we have improved our news links system. Up to now, you were forced to input your username/password in order to get access to the news page when clicking the news link. Moreover, you didn’t get direct access to the news page through news link. Now, when you click the news link, e-malt.com system automatically finds out your rights. If you are already a registered user, you’d get access to the page containing news, as well as to the whole e-malt.com system. If you are not, you’d go to the Free E-malt Registration Form, and get all the access rights after your registration – i.e. get access to the page containing news, as well as to the whole e-malt.com system.
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