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

• SABMiller announced on January 5 the appointment of Tim Dewey as its international brands director with overall responsibility for Pilsner Urquell ...more info



• Australia: EYRE Peninsula's farmers should be finished harvesting next week, Port Lincoln Time reported on January 6. The harvest is the region's second biggest ever yield ...more info



• Japan: Asian alcoholic beverage leader Asahi Breweries Ltd (“Asahi”) and a leading Japanese trader Itochu Corporation (“Itochu”) announced on January 5 a strategic partnership with leading Chinese ...more info



• Australia, Melbourne: Foster's Group, Lion Nathan and other Australian brewers are selling as much as a fifth more beer as residents of Melbourne seek respite from the hottest start ...more info



• Denmark: Carlsberg is to lay off 130 staff in its Danish operation as part of a restructuring strategy, according to press reports ...more info

Brewery News

India: The United Kingdom-based Cobra Beer would invest about Rs 45 crore (Rs 450 million) to set up a greenfield plant in India for brewing beer, a top company official told New Delhi on January 5. The company has already tied-up with one brewery and is in talks with four more to brew Cobra range of beer in India which is currently being imported from the UK, its founder and CEO Karan Bilimoria told PTI. "We will invest $10 million for a greenfield plant, which is likely to come up in Hyderabad. The unit will be functional in 2-3 years," he said. He said the upcoming brewery would be funded through both debt and equity for which details were being worked out. "We have already raised $12 million in the UK, and we may think of being listed in Britain this year," Bilimoria said. Cobra Beer, which has an annual sales turnover of $100 million, targets to sell a million cases in India during the next 2-3 years. The company, which started brewing beer in Bangalore in 1990, shifted its base to the UK in 1997 and imports Cobra beer from the UK to sell in India. Bringing beer from the UK to India attracts a whopping 400 % import duty which needs to be rationalised as everyone would benefit from a reduction in import duty. In the UK and South Africa, import duty on beer has been brought down to zero from 14 and five per cent, respectively, he said.

Ukrainian brewing force, ZAO Oboloni, increased its production for the first 11 months of 2003 by 5.6% up to 566.9 million litres versus the same period of 2002. Beer production of the company rose 13.2% in the period up to 412.7 million litres. In 2002 Oboloni output 389 million litres of beer, 11.2% more than in 2001. 60% of Oboloni production is beer. The company owns 25% of Ukrainian beer market. About 15% of all its production is exported. Oboloni plans to launch a new bottling line with a capacity of 110 thousand bottles (0.5 l) per hour in spring 2004, marketing director of the company, S. Kravetz, said. The new line of German production will allow the company to increase its bottling capacity by 20%, Kravetz said. The implementation of the line together with other reconstructions will lead Oboloni to a production capacity of 700 million litres per year.

USA: Portland Brewing Co. is offering Californians a taste of "The Governator," a strong beer commemorating the Golden State's 38th governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Business Journal Portland said on January 5. The Governator Ale is a craft-brewed ESB (extra special bitter) that is a bit stronger in alcohol than most craft beers, the brewer said. Portland Brewing created a new "dba" called Pumping Iron Brewing Co. to produce the 22-ounce bottle adorned with a flexing beau, paying homage to the Austrian-born bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-governor. "Once we designed the label with the bodybuilder designed to tickle the funny bones of Californians, we decided it was worth the hassle to create a dba called Pumping Iron Brewing," said Jerome Chicvara, CEO of Portland Brewing. "We rolled it out in California as a stocking stuffer 10 days before Christmas," he added. The Governator is available throughout California through the end of spring for approximately $2.99 a bottle. Chicavara said that if the brew proves popular, it will stay on the shelves longer. He also said that although it's not currently available in Oregon, the company will make it available to all its distributors who are interested.

United Kingdom’s brewing company, Wolverhampton and Dudley’s good financial results prompted rises of around 25% in salaries for directors at the brewery. Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries is a company of outstanding quality. It runs 1,600 pubs and has got off to a good start in the current financial year with sales 5 per cent ahead in the first two months. The consensus forecast is for earnings per share to rise from 68.3p to 71.8p and for the dividend to be raised from 32.1p a share to 35p. The shares yield 4.3 %. In the year to 27 September, new finance chief Paul Inglett saw his salary nearly double to £218,293 (US$391,268) from £110,490. Stephen Oliver, managing director of one of the company’s pub operations, The Union Pub Company, has had his income increased to £229,547 from £181,594, according to the paper. Oliver’s counterpart in the Pathfinders Pubs division, Derek Andrew, also saw his pay rise to £280,951 from £224,292, while chief executive Ralph Findlay increased his wages to £378,105 from £304,016. A spokesperson told the newspaper: “Directors’ remuneration reflects record dividends, earnings per share and a share price at an all time high.” Following his switch to a non-executive role, chairman David Thompson saw his salary drop to £118,967 from £512,526. In early December last year, the brewer saw its full year net profit fall by 7.7% to £38.5m from £41.7m a year ago. The company said it was hit by a £1.8m loss on the disposal of several of its high street pubs, and sales also fell by 3% to £490.5m. Despite the figures and continued cost pressure, though, W&D said at the time that the new financial year had started well.

Barley News

Australia: ABB Grain ltd (ABB) closed its 2003-04 season No.2 Pool in Victoria for feed barley varieties and for sloop varieties, schooner, dhow and arapiles malting and feed barley, on December 31, Counry News reported on January 5. ABB managing director Michael Iwaniw said the pool closures would signal the winding down of the 2003-04 harvest period. "Barley harvesting is all but finished in most areas of Victoria," Mr Iwaniw said. "However, as the late harvesting districts of the state may be reaping well into the new year, the Gairdner and Franklin malting barley pools will remain open for direct deliveries to selected sites only."

Australian agri-food business GrainCorp Limited has announced the opening of its No.2 Pools following the closure of its No.1 feed barley, malting barley and canola pools. The closure affects the following pools: NSW: Feed barley, malting barley and canola. Victoria: Canola. The canola and barley pools have been closed as harvest is now drawing to a close in most areas and to protect the interests of participants. The pool closures took effect from 5 pm on Wednesday, December 31, 2003. GrainCorp opened No.2 Pools for canola, feed barley and malting barley in NSW and Victoria effective from January 1. GrainCorp Pools received tremendous support from growers this harvest. Pool manager Simon Varley said GrainCorp canola and barley pools had remained competitive throughout the season providing a solid benchmark for prices, particularly through the harvest period. Mr Varley said an active pre-harvest sales and hedging strategy had helped bolster pool returns. He was optimistic that solid demand would continue over the longer term to underpin pool returns for Australian barley and canola. GrainCorp's Wheat Pools remain open in all States.
Source: FAS, USDA

Germany: In Rhineland Westphalia the varieties recommended for malting barley for crop 2004 are Auriga and Scarlett.


Theoretical malt prices.

* - 70/30 = 70% Average two Rows Spring and 30% Six Rows Winter
** - 50/50 = 50% Average two Rows Spring and 50% Six Rows Winter

Theoretical malt prices for crop 2004 are available on site www.e-malt.com/MarketPrices

Malting barley prices. French barley prices. Nominal prices.

EURO = USD 1.2659 January 06, 2004
Crop year		2003		2004
Parity		FOB Creil		FOB Creil
Position		July 2003		July 2004
Type	Variety	EURO	USD	EURO	USD
2RS	Scarlett	143.50	182.00	142.00	180.00
2RS	Prestige/Cellar	143.00	181.50	141.00	178.50
2RS	Aspen	142.00	180.00	140.00	177.50
2RS	Optic	142.00	180.00	140.00	177.50
2RS	Astoria	141.00	178.50	139.00	176.00
2RS	Cork	141.00	178.50	139.00	176.00
6RW	Esterel	138.50	175.50	125.00	158.50

nq - Not quoted

Prices for Danish and UK malting barley are available on site www.e-malt.com/MarketPrices

French Malting Barley Price Evolution

	Maximum average price for 2RS Malting Barley, Crop 2003: 148.50 EUR/tonne - in November 2002
	Minimum average price for 2RS Malting Barley, Crop 2003: 124.00 EUR/tonne - in June 2003
	Maximum average price for 6RW Malting Barley, Crop 2003: 129.00 EUR/tonne - in November 2003
	Minimum average price for 6RW Malting Barley, Crop 2003: 115.00 EUR/tonne - in June 2003

Source: E-malt.com

Graph of the week

Agenda

January 2004: INTERNATIONAL FOOD & DRINK EXHIBITION (IFDE 2004); The 2004 Barley Day; Pianeta Birra - Beverage & Co. International Show of Beers, Beverages...;
February 2004: Pianeta Birra - Beverage & Co. International Show of Beers, Beverages; HOFEX 2004 Food & Drink; Canadian Food & Beverage Show; BIEREXPO;
March 2004: International course - Malting and Brewing Science; FOODEX Japan 2004; ANTAD 2004; 2004 BIENNIAL CONVENTION; Beer Auction 2004, the international exhibition of beer, technology and equipment; China Drinktec 2004. China International Exhibition on Beverage and Brewing Processing Technology

More events are available on site e-malt.com

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