1. Trading offer & request

At this moment there are two OFFERS for 8000 tons of malt on the trading portal www.e-malt.com

• Offer for 1-5000 mtons of malt, 2RS, crop 2003, Bulk, delivery 1/11/2003 - 31/12/2003, at EUR 261.50/mton, FOB Antwerp. (to see and make a bid to the malt offer, please click here to view code MF1208P1503)
  
  
• Offer for 1-3000 mtons of malt, 6RW Esterel, crop 2003, Bulk, delivery 1/1/2004 - 30/6/2004, at EUR 255.00/mton, FOB Antwerp. (to see and make a bid to the malt offer, please click here to view code MF1208P1505)
  
  

 Top Industry News 

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

• Miller Brewing Co., the U.S.-based unit of the world's second-biggest brewer, SABMiller Plc SAB.L , said on August 11 it would cut around 200 jobs as part of an overhaul of its corporate office ...more info



• Sapporo Holdings, the owner of Japanese Sapporo brewing business, has reported a net loss of Y13.4 billion for the first six months of the year to June 29 ...more info



• The Japanese Kirin Brewery Co., one of three breweries that announced six-month results, said it revised down its full-year earnings outlook to 33 billion yen from the initial 39 billion yen ...more info



• Merrill Lynch, the US investment bank, has upgraded shares in the Mexican brewer, Femsa, to "buy" from "neutral". The decition was taken after Femsa’s victory in a legal dispute with the Belgian ...more info



• Degroof, the Belgian bank, has downgraded its rating on the Belgian brewing force, Interbrew, to "reduce" from "hold". The bank believes that the current heat wave in Europe would become ...more info



• Brazilian beverage company AmBev posted on August 11 a 17 % rise in second-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) from pro forma results a year earlier ...more info



• Increasing concern about Canadian crops means that world output of malting barley does not look as assured as it did a few weeks ago, says the Home-Grown Cereals Authority ...more info



• Belgian brewing giant Interbrew suffered a setback on Friday to plans for streamlining its U.S. operations, when a court refused to overturn a ruling that prevented it from merging two distribution ...more info



• A heat wave rolling across the Europe sent European brewers higher rise in the thermometer with a surge in beer sales. Belgian brewing giant Interbrew led its European peers, up 3.75 % ...more info



• German brewers are reassuring thirsty consumers there is no imminent danger of beer running out despite rumors that surging demand in the summer heat has exceeded the supply ...more info



• Citigroup, the investment bank, has upgraded its rating on shares in the Belgian brewing combine, Interbrew, to "outperform, medium risk" from "outperform, high risk" ...more info




2. Brewery News

The unlisted Japanese company Suntory Ltd., said its beer sales dropped 7.6 %, while happoshu sales fell 6.1 % during the six-month period, according to Japan Times. Combined sales stood at 100.4 billion yen. "The impact of the happoshu tax hike is more severe than we anticipated," said Masao Tachiki, Suntory's senior managing director. "We initially thought the impact of raising the price 10 yen to 145 yen (for a 350-milliliter can) would be diluted as time passed. But it has very strong price sensitivity." The company, which derives more than half its revenue from nonalcoholic beverages and its food businesses, said that group net profit for the half-year period nearly doubled to 11.28 billion yen, while revenue fell 2.8 % to 639.94 billion yen. Operating profits rose by 0.7% to Y31.66 billion on group sales 2.8% down at Y639.94 billion. The company attributed the improved profitability to a successful cost-cutting programme. Suntory is forecasting group operating profit of Y88 billion for the full 2003 fiscal year, 12% up on 2002, with net profit rising by 48% to Y30 billion and sales up 2.5% at Y1.419 trillion.

The Belgian brewing conglomerate, Interbrew, noted on August 8, “the decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which acknowledges that FEMSA Cerveza, the minority shareholder in Labatt USA, has a veto right over certain significant related-party agreements between Labatt USA and the Interbrew Group.” Interbrew owns 70% in Labatt USA, while the Mexican company Femsa owns the rest 30%. Last year Femsa won an order from the US District Court in New York blocking Interbrew's distribution plans to put Beck's into its Labatt USA portfolio. Femsa contended that the arrival of Beck's would reduce the attention paid to its own brands in the portfolio. Femsa said after the ruling that its priority now was "to continue with the constructive dialogue currently in process between Femsa Cerveza and Interbrew regarding Labatt USA and the strategy going forward."...more info

“China's leading brewer, Tsingtao Brewery Co., has agreed to acquire a 45% stake in Hunan Debier Brewery Co., a Sino-Malaysian joint venture, from the Hunan beer company, Changsha Brewery, for CNY108m (US$13m),” Agence France-Press reported in a statement. According to the statement the remaining 55% in Hunan Debier is owned by the Malaysian Lion Group, with numerous brewing interests in China.

3. Malt News

Comparison of malt export licence fixations
208,000 tons of malt export licences were booked in July. At the same pace of bookings during the 11 months to come in this crop year, the mark of 2.4 million tons would be surpassed, but regrettably malt markets do not look like it at all.



(in tons)	2000 - 2001	2001 - 2002	2002 - 2003	July 01, 2003 - July 29, 2003
France	523,190	701,134	661,772	70,900
Germany	305,980	468,314	408,063	51,885
Belgium	277,584	296,368	287,850	11,000
U.K.	254,793	350,621	294,995	38,054
Finland	65,550	91,890	100,758	9,531
Denmark	52,326	96,812	94,791	6,250
Sweden	50,847	101,000	76,916	5,760
Netherlands	54,835	51,310	66,219	3,721
Ireland	26,003	35,145	31,140	-
Austria	4,850	8,840	8,620	1,025
Spain	3,000	2,400	5,640	10,000
Greece	1,800	1,744	1,306	-
Portugal	340	221	85	151
Italy	-	-	2	-
Total:	1,621,098	2,205,799	2,038,157	208,227





	Total Wheat malt, tons
Total 2000/2001	4,686
Total 2001/2002	12,805
Total 2002/2003	30,908
July 01/03 – July 29/03	989
	Total Roasted malt, tons
Total 2000/2001	23,967
Total 2001/2002	23,480
Total 2002/2003	23,603
July 01/03 – July 29/03	2,511



4. Barley News

USA: Wyoming farmers have started harvesting a barley crop expected to top last year's yields but remain lower than average, The Billings Gazette reported in a statement. About 6.8 million bushels (0.15 million metric tonnes) were expected to be harvested from 80,000 acres of barley this year. While that is up sharply from last season's 4.9 million bushels, it pales in comparison to the 6.97 million bushels produced in 2001. Still, farmers near Powell were optimistic heading into their fields. "With a very small percentage of the crop in, things are looking pretty decent," said Tom Richardson, a Coors Brewing Co. fieldman. "There are higher expectations of it this year than there were last year, anyway." Some were leery of hail and wind storms destroying their crops. But many expected good yields based on better growing conditions this year. Yields of 85 bushels (1.85 metric tonnes) per acre can be expected in most areas of the state, the Wyoming Agricultural Statistics Service reported.

EU malting barley crops and markets: Turkey purchased 15,000 tons of Esterel and 35,000 tons of Prestige barley at prices of about US$ 170,- and 182,- CIF Mersin. A sale of 50/60,000 tons of French winter barley CIF Constanta/Romania is rumoured at a price below US $ 160,-.

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