EU malt licence fixations July 2003 – June 29, 2004 were 2,432,075 tonnes as compared to 2.038 million tonnes in 2002/03. A plus of 400,000 tonnes looks enormous and is not realistic, analysts revealed. A statistical error is not excluded, and another explanation is that there was a carryover of long-term licences from 2001/02 to 2002/03 leading to reduced bookings in the latter year. “We daresay, however, that malt export shipments in the crop year 2003/04 have increased by up to 200,000 tons and not decreased, as was prognosticated last summer,” analysts wrote in a press release.

07 July, 2004