Domestic beer sales of Bulgaria increased by 36% year-on-year to 158,166 hectolitres in January 2006, according to the figures released by Union of Brewers in Bulgaria (UBB), Dnevnik News posted on February 14.

Heineken-owned Zagorka AD outperformed its rival Kamenitza AD in January 2006, selling 57,264 hl versus 54,815 hl for its InBev-owned competitor. Carlsberg Bulgaria moved 30,847 hl for the no.3 spot in January.

Locally-owned Boliarka VT reported sales of 12,420 hl in January on top of 378,223 hl for the entire 2005. Among the smaller UBB members, Lomsko Pivo reported January sales of 2,259 hl while Agrima posted 561 hl.

Kamenitza topped the 2005 market with 1,448 mln hl ahead of Zagorka with 1.415 mln hl. Carlsberg Bulgaria was a solid third with 887,063 hl.

Locally-owned beer makers Ledenika and MM do not report sales to the UBB.

Anadolu Efes Biracılık ve Malt Sanayi A.Ş. (“Anadolu Efes”) and its 70% owned Dutch subsidiary Efes Breweries International (“EBI”) announced on February 14 that they have jointly mandated Citibank N.A. and Citigroup Global Markets Limited (together “Citigroup”) and HSBC Bank plc, collectively, for a debt finance package with a total amount of USD 500 million.

The proportion by which Anadolu Efes and EBI will share the financing package is yet to be determined.

The proceeds from the financing package are intended to be invested in EBI’s organic and inorganic growth plans, including the funding of the purchase of the Russian based Krasny Vostok Brewing Group shares about which EBI recently disclosed its intention by its entry into a Share Purchase Agreement.

Malt export licence fixations to-date show a large plus for Belgium versus last year, increases also for the Netherlands and Sweden, and much reduced figures for France, Germany and the U.K. These figures are an indication of changed sources of exports, not exact though, because certificates are freely usable all over the community, market analysts have recently commented.

Inside multinational groups, especially between France and Belgium, export licences booked in one country are probably also used in the other one. But nevertheless there is a message: seaboard maltsters gain volume in the export business. For many maltsters in the inland it can only mean to follow the path shown by their British colleagues and concentrate more on domestic markets. But also there the increasing cost of traffic and the unreliability of water levels in the big rivers make sales over long distances less attractive.

For 2005-06, exports are forecast by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) to increase by 34%, driven mainly by higher exports of feed barley. Carry-out stocks are forecast to decrease by 11%, but will be high historically, AAFC posted on February 14 in its Grains And Oilseeds Outlook.

For 2006-07, production is forecast to rise slightly, as lower yields are more than offset by larger area but total supply is projected to rise only marginally due to lower carry-in stocks. Exports are expected to fall, as higher exports of malting barley only partially offset lower exports of feed barley. Carry-out stocks are projected to drop significantly due to higher feed use.

The average off-Board feed barley price is forecast to rise by C$15/t. CWB pool returns are forecast by AAFC to be similar to 2005-06 for Two-Row but decline for Six-Row designated barley.