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• Swedish unions have gone to Carlsberg’s Danish investors to try to prevent the closure of the company’s Stockholm plant ...more info



• The Danish brewery, Harboes Bryggeri, posted on December 03 a a rise in pre-tax profit for the financial year 2003-2004 to DKK54.8 million (US$8.9 million) ...more info



• Interbrew has announced recently that it appointed Simon Thorpe as a new president and chief executive officer of Labatt USA ...more info



• The UK pub group Mitchells & Butlers has seen its full year net profit fall 41%, as it suffers the consequences of its separation from Six Continents ...more info



• Russian Brewer OAO Yarpivo announced 490 million litres of beer sold in the first 11 months of the year 13% more than for the same period last year (434 million litres) ...more info



• Britain's biggest regional brewer, Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries Plc, said on December 03 it was on the hunt for more pubs after a hot summer boosted trading across its estate ...more info

2. Brewery News

The No. 1 U.S. brewer, Anheuser-Busch Inc., announced on December 02 its brewery workers represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters approved a new five-year labor contract. The new agreement runs through February 28, 2009. “This ratification means the continuation of superior health care benefits and job security for Anheuser-Busch Inc. employees” said August Busch IV, president of Anheuser-Busch Inc. The new agreement improves upon the best compensation and benefits package in the industry, Anheuser-Busch reported. It protects health and welfare benefits for employees and their families and provides for substantial pension and wage increases. By ratifying early, the approximately 7,500 Anheuser-Busch employees covered by the contract will receive early wage and benefit increases and a $1,000 ratification bonus. The contract also renews the company’s commitment to keep all 12 breweries open during the term of the new agreement. The new contract increases wages by 65 cents per hour in the first year; 60 cents per hour in years two, three and four; and 55 cents per hour in year five. The agreement provides for maintenance of an excellent health care package with no employee-paid premiums in Company-sponsored plans and a pension benefit increase of 14 % for defined benefits plans. “We are pleased both that our company’s performance allowed us to make this outstanding offer and that our employees ratified it in overwhelming fashion. We look forward to building on this successful joint effort,” said Busch. Anheuser-Busch Inc. is the world’s largest brewer with 12 domestic breweries and distribution in more than 80 countries. The company’s portfolio of more than 30 brands includes Budweiser, the world’s best-selling beer; Bud Light, the world’s No. 1 light beer; Michelob; Michelob Light; Michelob ULTRA; BUSCH; and a variety of specialty beers, imports and non-alcohol brews.

Brazil: The brewer Schincariol has announced plans to open a beer production plant in Igrejinha in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. In that way the brewer has upped the ante in its fight for market share with AmBev. The announcement was officially made yesterday with the governor of the state, Germano Rigotto, in attendance. Schincariol has aggressively marketed its new beer brand Nova Schin, launched in August this year, to loosen AmBev’s domination of the Brazilian beer market. In September AmBev’s market share fell from 70.2% in June to 60.1%, while Schincariol saw its share jump from 9.7% in June to 11.5%.

Chile’s Comercial e Industrial Hochschild is launching three Argentinean beers - La Diosa, Isenbeck and Warsteiner, according to the local reports of December 05. Comercial e Industrial Hochschild already sells the Tommy range of soft drinks in Chile. Raúl Buenaventura, the company's commercial manager said: "Our idea for the beers is to take advantage of our soft drinks distribution network, which already works with 4,000 clients ... It was logical to add products on to the lorries that service our clients". Buenaventura said he was not frightened of taking on Chile's brewing giant CCU head-to-head and expressed his confidence that the three brands will establish themselves rapidly. The three beers will be produced in Argentina at a plant belonging to Hochschild's commercial partner, Germany's Isenbeck group. Hochschild's will export the beers to Chile in containers and bottle them there, with the long-term aim of transferring production to Chile.

In 2003 Russian beer market will see a growth of 10% versus 2002, Russian analysts has recently reported. Under the last year statistics, Russia is considered the fifth largest beer market in the world outrunning United Kingdom. The first half of the year is thought by the analysts to be hard for the Russian brewers. Sales volumes increased only by 3% versus the same period last year to 36.35 million hl of beer. The low growth rate is attributed to the poor results registered in the first quarter of the year when Russian beer marked decreased by 4.9% versus the same period last year. Under the analysts’ forecast market share of the foreign companies (the biggest – BBH and Sun Interbrew) in the Russian beer market in 2003 will not exceed 60%. Big Russian breweries Ochakovo and Krasny Vostok are still national companies. However, next year the world largest brewer Anheuser-Bush is expected to enter Russian beer market who might buy Ochakovo or Krasny Vostok.

3. Malt News

USA, Great Falls: Work on a $60 million barley malting plant is progressing smoothly, and barley buying from Montana growers could begin as soon as next year, top officials of the International Malting Co. said on December 03, according to a report of Great Falls Tribune. Speaking to more than 150 people at the Montana Grain Growers Association in Great Falls, Damien Lesaffre, president of International Malting, said the plant north of the city should open in mid-2005. "We are moving forward," he said. "We are right on track." Once the plant is operational, it will reach full capacity quickly, meaning it will need barley produced in 2004. The company said the plant will consume 11 million bushels (239.5 thousand tones) of malt barley each year. Annual malt production is expected to be 12 million bushels (about 185.2 thousand tonnes). How and when International Malting will buy barley was of high interest to grain producers. "I think initially we may have to bring in some barley from North Dakota," said Dale West, International Malting's chief operating officer. "Ultimately, we would like to see all the barley come from Montana." While the company likes to experiment with different types of barley to meet customer needs, officials said the plant would initially use barley varieties currently grown in Montana. West said International Malting would work with individual growers and elevator companies to buy barley. Details of how the contracting process will work are still being worked out, he said. Malting barley producers in northcentral Montana often contract with brewing companies, such as Anheuser Busch. "However we do it, your contract will be with us," West told potential growers, noting limited 2004 purchases could be made through open-market contracts...more info

Malt business in November included fairly large sales to Brazil, 20,000 tonnes each from the EU and Canada at around US $ 320 CIF, and about 40,000 tonnes from Argentina at US$ 350 CIF, which is the equivalent tax-paid price inside Mercosur. Small quantities were sold to Costa Rica, Guatemala and Venezuela. Thailand is in the market for 20,000 tonnes. There is still demand in the Balkans and the Southern FSU, Czech and Slovak maltsters sold at least 10,000 tonnes. Germany reports domestic business at prices below EUR 260 CIP breweries for delivery in 2004.

4. Barley News

EU shippers took 1 million tonnes of barley export licences till end November, of which only 9000 tonnes in October and 33,000 tonnes in November. Today’s price for French feed barley FOB Rouen is about US$ 175 per tonne, far above world market levels. The final EU barley export volume may be as little as 1.5 million tonnes, unless world market prices reach EU price levels, which is most unlikely.

The big riddle of the year is the Chinese demand for malting barley, analysts said. Demand figures range from 1.5 to 2.2 million tonnes. Customs-clearances in Chinese ports from July till October were a mere 135,000 tonnes. Port stocks are almost exhausted by now (100,000 tonnes?), most of the unsold barley is old crop Esterel barley from France with declining germinative energy. Total malting barley needs in China are estimated to be 3 million tonnes, the Chinese crop of viable malting barley is less than 1 million tonnes. Brewers have increased the proportion of adjuncts, but there is also a new increase of beer output after a short decline during the crisis of the SARS disease. The opinion in the trade is that Chinese buyers will come into the market in December or latest in January for substantial quantities. Purchases will have to come from Australia and Canada, as the EU is uncompetitive this year.