Chinese biggest brewer, Tsingtao Brewery Co, partly owned by Anheuser-Busch, has reported that the outbreak of the SARS virus had affected the growth in production. The Company’s output rose 8% to 1.23m kilolitres in the first five months of the year if compared to the same period last year. The slowdown in output growth may mean the company misses its original target for a 21% growth in production this year. "Since the second half of April, due to the impact of the atypical pneumonia outbreak, the domestic tourism, food and beverage industries saw a severe slide in business which dealt a heavy blow to Tsingtao's sales," the company said in a statement.

12 June, 2003