Kirin Brewery Co. announced on August 21st it will release a new third-category quasi-beer on Oct. 27 to secure its position as the top player in the business segment, Jiji Press communicated.

The new Sparkling Hop is mainly targeted at people in their 20s, among whom beer and beer-like beverages are losing their appeal.

The drink features a distinctive aroma created by blending Japanese and New Zealand hop varieties. Strong pressure gives the product a rich head and a refreshing finish, Kirin officials said.

Sparkling Hop is made by mixing a "happoshu" low-malt drink with spirits. Under Japan's liquor tax system, the new product is classified as a liqueur, whose tax rate is lower than those for beer and happoshu.

This is Kirin's third product in the third category, following "Ryoshitsu Sozai" and "Nodogoshi Nama." With the three products, Kirin hopes to beat out its rivals in the heavily crowded third-category market.

Sparkling Hop is expected to retail at around 135 yen for a 350-milliliter can. Sales are estimated to reach 1.6 million cases by the end of this year. Each case contains the equivalent of 20 633-milliliter bottles.

Beijing Yanjing Brewery Co Ltd has recently posted an unaudited net profit of 193.45 mln yuan for the first half of the year, an increase by 25.3 pct from 154.42 mln achieved last year, on the back of higher sales, AFX News communicated on August 19.

The beer maker achieved core revenue of 3.78 bln yuan during the six months, compared with 3.21 bln a year ago, with operating profit rising 29.7 pct to 227.99 mln yuan from 214.29 mln.

Earnings per share stood at 0.1758 yuan, against 0.1478 a year ago, while return on net assets was 3.66 pct compared with 2.95 pct.

At the end of June, the company had total assets of 9.44 bln yuan compared with 8.79 bln a year earlier, with the net asset value per share at 4.80 yuan against 4.76 yuan a year ago.

Separately, the company said it plans to apply for a one bln yuan credit line from Minsheng Bank to meet working capital needs.

Russia exported 1.418 million tonnes of feed barley during the last crop year. Russian analysts Interargo estimate the new barley crop only at 16.0 million tonnes, of which 14.0 million tonnes of spring barley vs. 16.4 million tonnes last year.

Russian barley imports, mainly malting barley, were 264,000 tonnes in 2006/07. Although harvest is far from finished, forecasts are that at least 3 – 400,000 tonnes of malting barley must be imported in the new crop year.

Germany's leading trading house Toepfer International forecasted on Monday, August 20th a barley harvest 2007 of 10.5 to 10.8Mt from 12Mt last year.

Wheat - 20Mt, down from the 22.4Mt harvested last year. This confirms previous trade and official estimates.
Rye - Greater planted area meant the rye crop was forecast to increase over 3Mt from 2.6Mt last year.
Maize - 3.4 to 3.5Mt from 3.2Mt last year.
Triticale - 2 to 2.1Mt against 2.2Mt last year.
Rapeseed - 5.2 to 5.3Mt against 5.3Mt last year.

This gave an overall cereal harvest of 40M to 41Mt from 43.3Mt last year. The trading house Toepfer International said that the main reasons for the decline in the forecasts is the heat and drought in April and the rain during the harvest time that interrupted the harvest repeatedly.