1. Trading offer & request

At this moment there is one OFFER for 5000 tons of malt on the trading portal www.e-malt.com

• Offer for 1-5000 mtons of malt, 2RS Prisma, crop 2003, bulk, delivery 1/1/2004 - 31/3/2004, at EUR 271.00/mton, FOB Antwerp. (to see and make a bid to the malt offer, please click here to view code MF0909P1612)
  
  

 Top Industry News 

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

• On September 2 e-malt.com published an article according to which Czech Republic sold 20 thousand tonnes of malt to Beer Thai. However, it has become clear that the information was wrong ...more info



• The quality of western Canada's malting barley is being negatively impacted by a heat wave across the region, High Plains Journal reported on September 5 ...more info



• Belgian beer giant Interbrew, has posted on September 9 strong growth in underlying profits for the first half of 2003 thanks to Europe's hot summer ...more info



• The full-year outlook for Dutch beer maker Heineken will be in focus on September 10 when the world's fourth-largest brewer posts first-half earnings, forecast to be flat ...more info



• Belgian beer maker, Interbrew, announced on September 9 that it appointed François Jaclot as new Chief Financial Officer of the Company, effective September 15th ...more info



• The Belgian beer maker, Interbrew, has made a bid for a 50% stake in the main Serbian brewing force, Apatin, it was reported on September 5 ...more info

2. Brewery News

Belgian brewing force, Interbrew, announced on September 5, 2003 that it had reached an agreement with the Malaysian group, Lion Diversified Holdings Berhad (LDHB), to become its strategic partner in the beer business in China. Under the terms of the transaction LDHB will sell to Interbrew a 50% share in LDHB's China brewing activities for US$131.5 million, and transfer management control of the strategic partnership to Interbrew. Moreover, Interbrew said it would have the option to buy the remaining 50 % for another $131.5 million any time a year after the deal is closed. The partnership clears key acquisition criteria for Interbrew: significant potential to grow outside both local and regional markets through strong brands, volumes, economies of scale and critical mass; continued focus on the core lager segment; and solid, dependable management resources. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2004 after due diligence, shareholder approval and necessary regulatory approvals in Malaysia. Lion Diversified Holdings Berhad (LDHB) is listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. LDHB realised a total beer volume of 11 million hectolitres in 2002. This new partnership places Interbrew as the third largest brewer in China in terms of production volumes, achieving almost a 9% market share, with 21 million hectolitres sold, said Interbrew...more info

Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar, will not be privatised until at least 2006, Czech press reported on September 8. “The sale of the fully state-owned brewer was out of question during this cabinet's term, which expires in June 2006,” Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, in charge of the Czech privatisation programme, said. “A drawn out dispute between the Czech company and Ansheuser-Busch, the world's biggest brewer, over the rights to the Budweiser name ruled out Budvar's privatisation any time soon.” In June, Sobotka said the sale of Budvar might be possible as part of the government's campaign to raise money for badly-needed infrastructure investment. "So far, (our) analyses do not speak in favour of Budvar's privatisation in the nearest future," Sobotka said. Budvar's value is estimated at around three billion crowns ($110 million) but the rights to the Budweiser brand, which the Czech brewer can exclusively use in many countries, is thought to be worth 10 times that amount, Reuters said. Anheuser-Busch had been expected to try to buy Budvar to stop a constant flow of litigation with its small Czech rival over who can sell beer as the real Budweiser. Ceske Budejovice, the brewery's location, is known in Germany as Budweis and many, though not all, courts have backed Czech assertions that it is the home of the Budweiser trademark. Budvar is the third-largest Czech beer maker. Its annual output fell last year to 1.21 million hectolitres.

Beer Thai (1991), the manufacturer of market leader Chang Beer, announced on September 4 a shareholding restructuring in preparation for its listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand within six months, Bangkokpost reported in a statement. The company reported to the SET that liquor tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi had sold his entire 26% stake in Beer Thai to BTCL Trading. Khunying Wanna Sirivadhanabhakdi also sold her 24.99% holding in Beer Thai to BTCL Trading, giving the latter a 50.99% stake in Beer Thai overall. Beer Thai is expected to be the largest private initial public offering in local history, given its huge holdings in the beer and liquor industries.

Singapore: Asia Pacific Breweries, the manufacturer of Tiger beer, is suspending one of its finance managers and calling in the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) amid suspicions of forgery, MCN International Pte Ltd reported on September 4. According to Asia Pacific Breweries, suspended finance manager Chia Teck Leng was charged in court on September 4 for a multi-million dollar fraud. He is suspected of opening and operating bank accounts under the Asia Pacific Breweries name. Local press reports suggested the alleged fraud may have amounted to S$90m (US$51.43m). The company said the matter was being investigated by the CAD. The company has frozen the unauthorised accounts and appointed a special audit committee, plus accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers and law firm Drew & Napier to look into the matter. Three years ago, an SIA cabin crew supervisor was convicted and put in jail for siphoning $35 million into various personal accounts over 13 years. And in July this year, SembCorp Logistics said staff at its Indian unit had created bogus revenues, inflating earnings by over $15 million over a three-year period. Asia Pacific Breweries could be the latest in a string of Singapore firms to fall victim to financial fiddling by their own staff.

3. Malt News

Present and forecast malt and beer production in Russia.
(Based on facts and assumptions)



	2002	2003f	2004f	2005f	2006f	2007f	2008f
Beer production in Million hl	70.5	74.7	79.2	83.2	85.7	87.4	89.2
Growth, %	-	6%	6%	5%	3%	2%	2%
Beer consumption per capita, liters	48.3	50.8	53.8	56.5	58.1	59.3	60.5
Use of malt, kg/hl	15.5	15	14.5	14	14	14	13,5
Malt requirements, thousand Mt	1,093	1,120	1,148	1,165	1,200	1,224	1,204
Local production of malt, thousand Mt	553	595	721	873	993	1,094	1,119
Imports of malt, thousand Mt	540	525	427	292	207	130	85



Belarus, Minsk: Gomel brewery Aragast-Czech Beer is to become the largest malt producer in Belarus, Interfax learnt from Gomel regional administration. Aragast-Czech Beer will be firstly transformed into a foreign company Evrosolod. Soon after the reorganization, the company will start producing three kinds of barley malt: candy, light, and dark Bavarian, company’s director Vasily Nikitenko told Interfax. According to Nikitenko, the company has ordered the necessary equipment and will be able to start the production by the end of 2003. The facilities will allow to produce up to 10,000 tons of malt annually. According to preliminary information, in 2004 the company plans to manufacture 4,500 tons of malt. Initially the raw stock will be bought in Czech Republic to start using the Belarusian raw stock as soon as the Belarusian barley cultivation state programme is deployed. According to the information received from the company leadership, the company plans to sell the state property share equaling 48% of the shares stock worth $569,300. The money to be received will cover company's debts as it is a loser nowadays, which can be explained by the deterioration of the main production facilities and extreme competition on the home market.

4. Barley News

EU Malting barley: Estimates of the EU export surplus range from 1.0 to 1.7 million tonnes. The high number is unlikely. Stratégie Grains estimates that 1.34 million tonnes of winter barley will be selectable for malting. French industries expect no more than 700,000 tonnes. Also in the U.K. published figures of a surplus of 600,000 tonnes are doubted, grain merchants anticipate exports of only 300,000 tonnes. There are large quantities of French Esterel barley in store with proteins ranging from 11.5 to 13 %. Local industries will not accept them. There may be an export market for these qualities, but there is also an enormous demand from the feed side. The price comparison shows the narrow price gap between feed and malting barley (maize even obtains a good premium above malting barley). It is generally assumed that much lower quality malting barley will quickly disappear in the feed sector. And the EU feed barley market is anticipated to remain firm.

Ukraine's association of brewers "Ukrpyvo" has applied to the Cabinet of Ministers with a suggestion to reduce import duty for malting barley, Director General of Slavuta Malt Plant Mykola Dubyna told to a press-conference September 5. He said the association had suggested setting up a zero duty rate until December 31, 2003. Such an initiative was caused by a deficit of good-quality raw material and high prices for it. According to the acting Director of Association Ukrpyvo Halina Korenkova, who was also present at the press-conference, the price for good-quality malting barley last year was 500 to 550 hryvnias per tonne, while this year it has already reached 750 to 1,100 hryvnias per tonne (5.33 hryvnias = $1). "The price of the malt will increase accordingly", Ms. Korenkova said. She said the amount of import malting barley, needed by the industry, was about 150,000 tonnes. It is necessary for improvement of quality of local raw material. She said, according to preliminary estimates, there had been harvested about 2 million tonnes of malting barley, but about 70 % of this amount was out of standards, needed for production of high-quality malt. Current import duty for malt barley in Ukraine is 20 euros per tonne.

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