E-Malt.com News article: 3466

China will be the world’s biggest beer producer in 2004 for the third year running, brewing more than 7 billion gallons (264.95 million hl) of beer, an industry expert said Wednesday, October 13. This year’s output exceeds last year’s by about 500 million gallons (18.93 million hl), or 7.4%, said Xiao Derun, director of the beer branch of the China Distillers Association.

China consumed 6.6 billion gallons (249.81 million hl) of beer last year, pushing consumption past the United States and into the global top spot for the first time. Continuing demand pushed pretax profit from beer up 22 percent to 8.72 billion yuan (about US$1.05 billion; euro 872 million) between January and July, Xiao said.

Xiao attributed the increase in production to the purchase and consolidation of small, inefficient breweries by major brands, along with the construction of new breweries and new investment in existing ones.

China's beer market is still dominated by domestic brands such as Tsingtao and Yanjing, but international names such as Budweiser, Suntory, Carlsberg and Fosters also have a major presence in the country.


15 October, 2004