1. Trading offer & request

At this moment there is one OFFER for 2000 tons of malt on the trading portal www.e-malt.com

• Offer for 1-2000 mtons of malt, 2RS Prestige/Astoria, crop 2003, bags in container, delivery 1/1/2004 - 30/6/2004, at EUR 284.50/mton, FOB Antwerp. (to see and make a bid to the malt offer, please click here to view code MF1609P1634)
  
  

 Top Industry News 

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

• U.S.A., North Dakota: Anheuser-Busch, Inc. recently became the second major brewing company to use a variety of barley developed by Rich Horsley, a researcher at North Dakota State University ...more info



• Virtually whole exports of grains from Ukraine in July 2003 were represented by barley, the sales of which made 53,700 tonnes, being 45 % less than the month before ...more info



• According to Ukraine's State Statistics Committee, the crop of winter barley in Ukraine as of September 1, 2003 constituted 653,300 tonnes ...more info



• The size of the Indian beer market was estimated at 6.7 million hectolitres in 2002-03, and beer consumption has been growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 7 % over the last nine years ...more info



• Cuba, Havana: Two members of Montana's congressional delegation completed a trade agreement on September 14 to sell $10 million worth of Montana agricultural products to Cuba within the next six month ...more info



• The investment bank, Fortis Bank, has increased its earnings per share estimates for the Dutch brewing force Heineken NV ...more info



• The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has ended its controversial investigation over the leak of documents at Belgian brewer Interbrew ...more info



• The Belgian brewery, Duvel Moortgat, posted on September 12 consolidated sales of € 31.49 million for the first halt of 2003, representing a 14.25% increase versus the same period last year ...more info



• Sun Interbrew will hold not less than 34% of the Ukrainian beer market by the end of 2003, according to the company’s forecasts ...more info




2. Brewery News

The China’s beer maker, Guangdong Brewery Holdings Ltd, based in Hong Kong, posted on September 15 a consolidated net profit for the first half of 2003 of HK$46.13 million, a 6.1% rise versus HK$43.49 million in the first half of 2002. Basic earnings per share increased by 5.7% from 3.5 HK cents in 2002 to 3.7 HK cents. Operating profit rose by 9% from HK$57.98 million to HK$63.17 million. Company’s turnover (sales) increased 4.8% up to HK$289.64 million in the first half of the year versus HK$276.43 million in the same period last year. Situated in Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, Guangdong Brewery Holdings Limited is principally engaged in the production, distribution and sale of Kingway beer mainly in Guangdong Province, particularly in Shenzhen where demand has consistently outstripped supply. The production and sale of Kingway beer continued to be the Group’s core business during the first half of the year. The Group’s sales are primarily conducted in the Guangdong Province, Mainland China. The total sales volume of Kingway beer for the first half of the year amounted to 112,000 tonnes (2002: 95,000 tonnes), representing an increase of 17.9% over the same period of 2002. The consolidated turnover was HK$290 million (2002 : HK$276 million), representing an increase of 4.8% over the same period of 2002...more info

The Turkish brewing force, Efes Beverage Group, will launch a new brewery in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, by the end of September-beginning of October. The brewery is a rebuilt Turkish plant Coca-Cola Rostov Bottlers. ZAO Brewery Moscow-Efes will control the new brewery in Rostov. Efes invested about RUB 709.08 million (US$ 20.45 million) in Rostov-on-Don. This sum includes also the investments made earlier in Coca-Cola Rostov Bottlers. The reorganization of Coca-Cola plant was financed partly by The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) partly by Efes’ own funds. The Efes’ brewery in Rostov will start brewing with brands “Stary Melnik”, “Efes” and “Bely Medved”. The production capacity is planned to be 100 million litres per year. Company’s personnel will account 300-350 people. In 2003 the plant is to produce 25 million litres of beer, in 2004 the planned output is 60 million litres and in 2005 – 90 million litres.

Leading Polish brewing group Zywiec, a unit of Dutch brewing giant Heineken, said on September 11 the stellar financial and operating results recorded in the first half of 2003 will be continued in the second half of the year due to strong summer sales and the rewards of its restructuring policy, according to Interfax. Zywiec president Nico Nusmeier told reporters Wednesday that its first-half results were the best since the group was set up in 1998, terming the results "very satisfying." The group, which jousts with SABMiller's Kompania Piwowarska for market lead, posted in the first six months 26% growth in operating profit to PLN 158 mln, 25% growth in net profit to PLN 101 mln and 3.2% growth in sales to PLN 1.49 bln. By volume, sales were up nearly 5% to 6.2 mln hectoliters (100 liters = 1 hl). Zywiec justified the good results by pointing to its consistently executed policy of reducing and optimizing operating costs and better using economies of scale generated by its five brewery group...more info

Japan, Tokyo: Moody's Investors Service said on September 12 it had upgraded to positive from stable the outlook on the Baa3 senior unsecured debt ratings of major beer maker Asahi Breweries Ltd, according to JapanToday. Meanwhile Moody's Investors Service raised the senior unsecured debt ratings of Suntory Ltd to Baa2 from Baa3. The debt-rating agency said the change reflects Asahi's improved market position and credit profile, despite a challenging market environment. Asahi has improved its position in the domestic market for beer taste products, backed by its leading beer product, Asahi Super Dry, and its successful development of Asahi Hon-nama, its key happoshu product. The company introduced Hon-nama to the market for happoshu - low-malt and low-priced beer - in 2001 and had a market share of approximately 25% during 1H 2003. The shift in demand from beer to happoshu had posed a challenge to Asahi since the company's source of cash flow was heavily reliant on Asahi Super Dry. However, because of the company's successful development and launch of Hon-nama, along with slowing growth in demand for happoshu, the company's overall market position has stabilized...more info

3. Malt News

Comparison of EU malt export licence fixation. From July 1 to August 28, 2003, EU maltsters booked export licences for about 893,230 tons of malt.  That is at least 40 % of the expected export volume for the crop year.  Outstanding countries were France with 383,150 tons against a total of 661,770 tons last year, and Belgium with 176.450 tons versus last year's total of 287,850 tons.  Licence bookings included 370.000 tons of long-term licences, which require a bank guarantee of EUR 24 per ton versus EUR 5  for the short-term export permit.  Malt export licences are fixable at a value of zero, which means no refund and no export tax.  When the Commission cancelled all zero licences for grain exports on the August 1 and replaced them by "dash"-licences, maltsters were afraid that the measure would be applied to malt as well.  By an unfortunate transmission error it seemed indeed that malt was part of the new scheme.  The correction came quickly, but obviously too late to dispel the maltsters' distrust in the Commission's policies.  After the recent remarks of Commissioner Fischler that export taxes are not envisaged, it seems logical that the system of malt licence bookings will not be changed.  Regrettably it will be impossible this year to observe the pace of malt shipments by the usual short-term licence fixations.



(in tonnes)	2000 - 2001	2001 - 2002	2002 - 2003	July 01, 2003 - August 28, 2003
France	523,190	701,134	661,772	383,150
Germany	305,980	468,314	408,063	91,242
Belgium	277,584	296,368	287,850	176,445
U.K.	254,793	350,621	294,995	132,991
Finland	65,550	91,890	100,758	20,931
Denmark	52,326	96,812	94,791	13,400
Sweden	50,847	101,000	76,916	13,470
Netherlands	54,835	51,310	66,219	49,721
Ireland	26,003	35,145	31,140	-
Austria	4,850	8,840	8,620	1,576
Spain	3,000	2,400	5,640	10,000
Greece	1,800	1,744	1,306	200
Portugal	340	221	85	151
Italy	-	-	2	-
Total:	1,621,098	2,205,799	2,038,157	893,277




	Total Wheat malt, tonnes
Total 2000/2001	4,686
Total 2001/2002	12,805
Total 2002/2003	30,908
July 01/03 – August 28/03	1,523
	Total Roasted malt, tonnes
Total 2000/2001	23,967
Total 2001/2002	23,480
Total 2002/2003	23,603
July 01/03 – August 28/03	4,078



Carlsberg Malaysia purchased about 20 thousand tonnes of malt from traditional suppliers in the EU (2/3) and Australia (1/3), reported price was EUR 295 CIF in bulk in container. Sales to Carlsberg Hong Kong and Nepal are being negotiated. Also SAB are in the market for their balance needs for 2004 in Africa.

4. Barley News

Russia exported 567,300 tonnes of grain in July 2003, 21% less than in July 2002, and 4% less than in the previous month, according to the information from State Customs Committee of Russian Federation. However, export of feed barley (the only variety of barley exported) increased from 124,000 tonnes in June to 161,000 tonnes in July, experts from Unidell-Transagro group said. The geography of export destinations in July continued to get narrower. Kuwait appeared as a new export destination, to which Ukraine delivered 11,000 tonnes of Balrey. Russia imported 185,400 tonnes of grain in July, more than double the figure for July 2002 and up 22% from the previous month. Russia bought most of its wheat and barley from Kazakhstan. Barley for beer brewing was imported from Denmark and France.

USA, GREAT FALLS - The state Board of Investments has approved $33.7 million in loans for a planned barley malting plant north of here, The Billings Gazette reported on September 16. The loan package is believed to be the largest in the board's 20-year history. Milwaukee-based International Malting Co. is building a plant that will be capable of processing 8 million to 12 million bushels of barley a year. The loan package comes from the state's coal-tax trust fund. The board said it agreed to increase loans for the project after IMC agreed to put more of its own money into the plant, along with funds from private lenders. "We were never nervous about IMC's credit; this is a company with strong finances," said Tim Ryan, a member of the Board of Investments. "This was totally about how many eggs do you want in one basket? How comfortable are you with that much money in one deal?" Right now, about $150 million of the trust is being used for loans to Montana businesses. The Montana Legislature has said the Board of Investments should strive to use 25 % of the trust for such programs. "The board members thought this was an excellent project, exactly the type of project the in-state investment was set up to fund when it was established in 1984," said Carroll South, the executive director of the Board of Investments.

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