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

• Colombia’s biggest beer maker, Bavaria, has approved signing a US$150 million line of credit with the Andean Development Corp.(CAF), the financing arm of the Andean Community ...more info



• In October this year Ukraine exported 196,000 tonnes of barley, which is 52% less than the month before. This is also 42 percent less than the export in October 2002 ...more info



• USA: Adolph Coors Co. and Coors Brewing Company have a new addition to their boards of directors ...more info



• Brazil: Latin America’s largest brewer, Ambev, is continuing to lose share on its domestic market, according to data reported in the press on December 18 ...more info



• US Consumer groups have lobbied government for the introduction of uniform advice labels on beer, wine and spirits. The National Consumers League ...more info



• World’s largest brewer, American beer maker Anheuser-Busch, is looking for a brewing company in Russia, Russian media reported on December 12 ...more info



• Australian beer maker, Lion Nathan, confirmed on December 17 that it remained confident of its guidance for the 2004 fiscal year of Net Profit after Tax (from Operations) of between $195 million ...more info



• The word’s largest beer maker, Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., intends to sell its popular Michelob Ultra low carbohydrate beer in 12 ounce cans starting in January ...more info

2. Brewery News

China: Australian brewing force, Lion Nathan, has acquired the Changzhou Hua Xia Brewing Co. Limited (Hua Xia), which is located in the City of Changzhou in South Jiangsu province, China, around 90 kilometres from Lion Nathan’s Wuxi brewery, according to Lion Nathan report from December, 17. Hua Xia brews around 22 million litres of beer and five million litres of rice wine annually which it sells in and around the City of Changzhou (population 900,000). Lion Nathan has a small, but growing business in the area and competes directly with Hua Xia in that market. The total purchase price for the equity in the business is RMB17 million. In addition Lion Nathan will assume working capital and other liabilities of RMB65 million. Lion Nathan has also sold the land on which the existing brewery is located with payment being received progressively over the next two years. Lion Nathan’s net investment in this business will peak at around RMB50 million (A$8.3 million) in 2004 and then progressively reduce to RMB15 million (A$2.5 million) as the proceeds for the sale of the property are collected. The acquisition is expected to be earnings (NPAT) neutral in the 2004 fiscal year and earnings accretive and value enhancing in the 2005 financial year. Commenting on the acquisition Lion Nathan CEO Gordon Cairns said: “This acquisition represents a low cost opportunity for us to strengthen our competitive position in the Yangtze River Delta. It is also consistent with our strategy of achieving profitability by growing mainstream beer volume and share in the Delta by expanding out from our core markets around our Wuxi and Suzhou breweries. The acquisition is particularly important in two respects. Firstly it provides us with a local presence in the Changzhou region which will help us grow our business in that market more quickly than we would otherwise been able to do. Secondly, it makes it more difficult for competitors, who might be interested in acquiring Hua Xia, to compete with us in our local markets, particularly in and around Wuxi where we are the market leader.” In a separate transaction Lion Nathan has also acquired the remaining 10 % of its Wuxi brewery thereby securing full ownership and control.

Dutch brewer Heineken NV warned on December 18 about the possible negative impact of the dollar on 2005 earnings with sales to the United States making up 10% of group turnover, according to Reuters. While the company has hedged 50 % of its current exposure for 2004, it has no currency cover in place yet for 2005 and a spokeswoman confirmed the world's number-three brewer had told analysts the impact on operating profits could be 50 million euros in 2005 if current rates continue. The remarks by Heineken caused a slide in its share price as it reminded investors of the corporate pain for euro-based companies due to its current high exchange rate of $1.24. At 5:41 a.m. EST Heineken shares were down 1.99 % at 30.09 euros after a decline of 17 % in 2003 so far. Several analysts said on Thursday they had changed their outlook after contacts with the company and spokeswoman Manel Vrijenhoek on Thursday confirmed a ``rough guidance based on hypotheses.'' ``Our closed period starts on Friday so many analysts are calling the investment relations department for a last chat. We have not changed the outlook but the dollar is, of course, impacting a company like ours that does a lot of business in the United States,'' she said. Heineken is the second-biggest importer of beer in the United States. Turnover in the United States makes up $760 million on an annual basis. In September Heineken said the weakening dollar would hurt 2003 profits by 28 million euros and the 2004 figure by 59 million. But the euro was trading around $1.10 at the time and has climbed 12 percent to $1.24 since then...more info

An attempt by US-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch to keep Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar from registering its name as a European Community trademark was foiled by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market of the European Union (OHIM) this week, according to Food&Drink report from December 19. The US brewer, which is fighting a worldwide battle with Budvar over who has the right to the Budweiser name, had claimed that allowing the Czech group to register the name in the EU would have caused confusion. A-B’s own Budweiser beer is already registered there. While A-B is allowed to sell its beer in most of the Member States under the Bud or Budweiser brand, it has not been successful in every attempt to prevent the Czech firm from using the Budweiser name, to which it claims the sole rights on the grounds that only its beer is made in the town of Ceske Budejovice (or Budweis in German) after which the brand is named. In the UK, for example, both brands have the Budweiser name, although the Czech brand also carries the word Budvar. In Austria, meanwhile, Budvar will have to prove that the Budweiser name is associated with the name of the town where it is brewed before it will be allowed to keep the trademark. But while the OHIM’s ruling will allow Budvar to register its Budejovicky Budvar brand name in the trading bloc, it does not allow it to use the Budweiser name for the beer. Nor does it prevent A-B from continuing to sell its brands there under the Bud and Budweiser names...more info

Vietnam: Work on the construction of a 100-million-litre-per-year brewery to produce VILAKEN beer started on December 18 at the Nam Cam industrial zone in central Nghe An province. Built at a cost of 1,000 billion VND, the brewery, an investment of the Viet Nam-Laos Economic Cooperation Corporation, is expected to become operational in late 2004. Equipped with German and Czech technology, the brewery is likely to generate jobs for hundreds of locals once it comes into operation.

Vietnamese connoisseurs in beer will be going to have opportunity to enjoy a special product of bottled fresh beer produced by Tan Hiep Phat Company in Ho Chi Minh City with technology from Germany, Vietnam Economy reported on December 19. According to German expert of beer production, Adolf Greiner, the bottled fresh beer has high nutrition content, but consumers in Vietnam up to date do not have opportunity to enjoy the bottled fresh beer, produced with high quality of malt imported from Germany and France. Process of beer brewing is fully automated under Brewmax operation system with the most advanced technology, giving the real taste of fresh beer.

3. Malt News

At the "Brau" fair of Nuremberg all large brewery groups were represented, and most East European brewers sent their delegates as well, reports revealed at the beginning of December. But malt business was not a major topic, as most demand had been covered earlier in the campaign. The mood was bad, no wonder, when market prices of October and November left malting margins as low as EUR 50,- per ton. Finally also all hope was lost that malting barley prices could come down, on the contrary barley prices increased by upto EUR 20,- per ton during the past 4 - 5 weeks.

4. Barley News

Russia: Avangard Bank has allocated 1 million euros to purchase the first 6,000 tons of Danish barley for its malt-house in Moscow Region, the bank said. A letter of credit worth 1 mln euros was opened for Nidera Handels Compagnie BV (Holland) and confirmed by American Express Bank GmbH (Germany). Payment delay is 8 months. Avangard Bank is currently financing construction of 3 malt-houses - in Moscow, Voronezh and Orlov regions.

Canada: Cash barley prices across Western Canada vary widely, but are within expectations, industry sources said on December 19. In Manitoba, producers are receiving between $2.30 and $2.40 per bushel. Saskatchewan barley prices are sitting around $2 per bushel. In Alberta, Canada's highest consumer of feed barley, producers receive about $2.75 per bushel. Current variations in barley cash prices on the Canadian Prairies are mostly due to location and transportation costs, however, livestock concentration and Canadian dollar values also play a role in differing barley returns across Western Canada, industry sources say. ProFarmer Canada analyst Mike Jubinville says there's nothing unusual about the differences in barley prices in the Prairie Provinces, noting that high barley production in Manitoba and Saskatchewan is driving down the price of barley in those provinces. "If you want barley, you've got to ship it all the way from Manitoba or Saskatchewan to southern Alberta, and there's a cost to that," Jubinville said. "You'll always have a premium in southern Alberta, and that premium is right around where it should be."