The Philippine food and beverage giant San Miguel will close its brewery in Hong Kong, China, in September due to high production and operating costs, reported local daily Business World, June 21.

San Miguel Brewery Hong Kong Limited plans to stop its brewing operations in the Yuen Long District, said the company secretary, Kenneth Woing, in a letter to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, according to the report.

"The group may incur significant one-off restructuring expenses in relation to the proposal which may have material short-term negative impact on the profitability of the group," said Wong." Nevertheless, the proposal will help streamline the production cost structure of the group with a view to improving the long term profitability."

San Miguel operates one brewery each in Indonesia, Australia, Vietnam and Thailand, and three breweries in China, including the one in Hong Kong.

Revenues of the international operations of the group increased by 8 percent in 2006 to 67.7 million U.S. dollars due to strong results from China operations, said the report.

The UK’s largest pub association has dismissed new restrictions on the marketing of ‘down-in-one’ alcoholic drinks as toothless, CatererSearch reported June 21.

The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) said new rules put in place by the drinks regulatory body the Portman Group would have little effect on the way pubs and bars sell alcoholic drinks.

Although the Portman Group has called on "shooter" or "slammer" style drinks to be abolished its jurisdiction only covers how drinks companies package and market their products and not how pubs and bars sell them.

A spokesman for the BBPA said: “The issue of irresponsible drinking is something we are taking responsibility for but the key issue is how products are actually sold by manufacturers not by the pubs themselves. We, and our members, are already committed to selling alcohol responsibly.”

Under the new marketing rules published this week by the Portman Group all pre-packaged drinks designed to be downed in one, or that urge people to drink rapidly, will be restricted.

David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group, said: “Downing drinks is potentially damaging because it can cause people quickly to get drunk.”

There are plans to build a new brewing enterprise, a senior official with Grodno’s Grodnoinvest Free Economic Area told Interfax, May 17.

The FEA is currently looking for investors and equipment suppliers for the new brewery. Heineken (the Netherlands), Baltika (Russia), ZVU Potez (Chechia) and Huppmann Handel (Germany) are reported to have shown an interest in the Belarusian project.

The brewery’s installed capacity is estimated at 2 million dal of beer a year.

The project is expected to claim an estimated EUR 11-15 million.

The new brewery is expected to cater for the home market, with exports given a second priority.

At the moment, there are 12 major breweries in Belarus and a dozen mini-breweries, which produce a maximum of 48.8 million dal of beer a year.

Last year Belarus produced 33.2 million dal of beer, 22.2% up on the year.

The average Belgian drinks 89 litres of beer each year, making it far and away the country's favourite alcoholic drink, Expatica News reported June 19.

Beer consumption in Belgium was down 1.1 percent last year, a decline which brewers attribute to fewer visits to bars and new consumption habits. 55 percent of Belgian beer production was exported.

The export of Belgian beer rose last year by 15 percent, according to figures presented by the federation of Belgian Brewers last week.

Production last year rose by 6 percent due to the increase in exports. Belgian brewers produced more than 18 million hectolitres of beer in 2006.

For 2008 market analysts expect a larger malt production, 8.6 million tonnes that is 98 % of present capacity plus some initial production of new factories. The export surplus would rise to 1.7 million tonnes, however, the export demand will be far above two million tonnes, close to the figures of former years.

The tight or rather insufficient S/D situation will therefore last at least till 2009. Maltsters will be in a position to defend the present malting margins, unless they become needlessly frightened by the appearance of new malt capacities.

It has been hot and dry since many weeks in the Black Sea region, since three weeks also in Russia, everywhere in the black soil country south of Moscow, market analysts commented on June 4th. Only the West and North of the Ukraine have received some showers, limiting damage to the crops.

Estimates of the Ukrainian barley crop have been reduced from 10.3 to about 8.5 million tonnes, but that may not be the full truth. The Ukrainian government, weakened by the political problems of the country, is preparing an export embargo for new crop wheat, and shippers are afraid it may be followed by a stop of barley exports as well.

The temporary embargo of last year has cost the trade much money so that all operators work with greatest caution. If the Ukraine and partly Russia dropped out of the international feed barley markets, price levels could easily rise further. Another question is whether Russia and Ukraine will have enough malting barley for their own needs.