SABMiller plc announces that its joint venture with Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCA), Pacific Beverages Pty Limited (Pacific Beverages) has acquired Bluetongue Brewery Pty Limited (Bluetongue), the Australian premium brewer, according to SAMMiller’s press release, December 5.

Bluetongue was established in 2003 and operates from a brewery near Newcastle, New South Wales with an annual capacity in excess of 50,000 hectolitres. Its premium beer brands include Bluetongue Premium Lager, Bluetongue Premium Light, Bluetongue Traditional Pilsner, Bluetongue Alcoholic Ginger Beer and Bondi Blonde.

In its four years of operation Bluetongue has had significant success in the premium beer category and in 2004 Bluetongue Premium Lager was awarded New Product of the Year at the Australian Liquor Awards. The operations and product range have been progressively expanded and in the year to November 2007 the company has delivered sales growth of over 70 per cent.

The acquisition will give Pacific Beverages greater access to the Australian premium beer market which has grown at a rate of around 15 per cent each year for the last six years. Ari Mervis, Managing Director SABMiller Asia, said, “The Australian premium beer market is growing strongly year-on-year. Pacific Beverages is well placed to capitalise on this ...More Info

Britain's biggest brewer Scottish and Newcastle is looking to start its first brewery in Vietnam with a $75 million investment, state media reported, according to Reuters, December 4.

The plant, to be located near Ho Chi Minh City in the south, would have an annual output of 75 million litres of Kronenbourg beer in the first phase, the Dau Tu newspaper quoted S&N's country manager Juan Luis Restrepo as saying.

The company plans to import Kronenbourg to Vietnam until the plant has started production.

Several international brewers have established their own breweries in Vietnam including Dutch brewer Heineken, Singapore's Tiger Beer and Denmark's Carlsberg.

United Romanian Breweries Bereprod (URBB), the producer of Tuborg, Carlsberg and Skol beer brands, will invest around 16 million euros in order to expand production capacities next year, Ziarul Financiar published December 3.

"For next year, we have planned an investment worth around 16 million euros, which will go into installing new fermentation tanks, and into expanding the capacity of the canned beer line," said Shachar Shaine, president of URBB. According to company representatives, the current canned beer capacity accounts for around 15% of the plant's overall output. "We have reached the maximum capacity for canned beer production, which is why we would like to expand this segment by 30% next year," added Shaine. All brands that are locally produced by URBB, Tuborg, Carlsberg, Skol and Holsten, have a canned beer line. Canned beer and PET-bottled beer are the market segments with the highest increases over the last few years. Canned beer accounted for 8.7% of the local beer market last year, with around 1.5 hectolitres sold, an increase against two years ago, when this segment accounted for just 7.8% of the market, according to data from the Romanian Brewers Association. In October this year, URBB completed investments worth ...More Info

Some Scottish & Newcastle Plc shareholders would support a takeover bid from Carlsberg A/S and Heineken NV if the brewers raised their offer to 775 pence a share, according to a survey conducted by Execution Ltd., Bloomberg reported December 4.

About 56 percent of investors who responded would support a bid at 775 pence, and an ``overwhelming'' majority would support an 800 pence-a-share offer, according to an e-mailed note. Execution estimates that investors owning between 10 percent and 20 percent of Edinburgh-based S&N replied.

The U.K. brewer has said Carlsberg's joint 750 pence-a-share offer undervalues their shared Russian business. Valby, Denmark- based Carlsberg wants total control of the companies' Russian venture, while Dutch brewer Heineken is after Scottish & Newcastle's British operations. S&N has started arbitration aimed at forcing Carlsberg to give up its stake in Baltic Beverages Holdings AB, which controls Russia's largest beermaker.

According to the survey, about 60 percent of respondents think Scottish & Newcastle is doing the right thing in pursuing the arbitration. The same amount think the company should be holding discussions with Carlsberg and Heineken.

``We're in regular contact with our shareholders and we're very confident that they have a good understanding of our position, particularly on the ...More Info

A Citi Investment Research analyst said although Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. appears to be taking some positive steps to increase sales of its core brews, it must change more dramatically to compete with larger international brewers, Associated Press reported November 30.

Analyst Bonnie Herzog suggested in a note to investors that Anheuser-Busch, the nation's largest brewer, combine with a global brewer like Belgium-based InBev NV, the world's largest brewer by volume, to keep growing.

Analysts and investors have speculated about a merger of the two for months, but so far, the companies have stayed mum on the possibility.

Herzog's comments follow Anheuser-Busch's annual regional investor meeting. At the meeting, the brewer said it plans to produce more television ads directed to the core consumer and spend more money on media time for its core brands, which include Budweiser, Bud Light and Michelob.

The company is hoping to rejuvenate growth of its domestic brews as more drinkers gravitate to imports and craft brews.

Herzog said the steps are encouraging but not enough to spur more growth.

"While we are encouraged by Anheuser-Busch's sense of urgency on its core brands and improving resource allocation to higher-performance brands, we are not convinced that the strategy outlined today is radical enough ...More Info

The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce ("SCC") has today confirmed the appointment of a Chairman to the Arbitral Tribunal which will rule on Scottish and Newcastle's ("S&N") claim that Carlsberg has breached the shareholders' agreement relating to Baltic Beverages Holding AB ("BBH"), the joint venture between S&N and Carlsberg, according to S&N press release, December 5.

The appointment of the Chairman, which has been agreed by the BBH partners and follows the appointment of arbitrators by S&N and Carlsberg, means that the Arbitral Tribunal has now been fully constituted. S&N therefore intends to submit its detailed claim to the Arbitral Tribunal shortly.

S&N welcomes today's move as a significant further step in its arbitration case against Carlsberg A/S's wholly owned subsidiary, Pripps-Ringnes AB, for breaches of the BBH Shareholders' Agreement. The rules of the SCC provide that, in most cases, an arbitration decision is expected within six months of the Arbitral Tribunal being constituted. This suggests a decision would be expected before the end of June 2008. Arbitration decisions cannot be appealed except on procedural grounds.

The Board of S&N continues to be confident that the Arbitral Tribunal will confirm its claims under the ...More Info

Markets of malt and malting barley had fallen asleep in the middle of October, and prices began to slide down slowly, particularly for nearby deliveries, according to analysts, December 3. The turn-around probably started at the Brau Fair at Nuremberg. All conversations had the same result: old crop supplies are too tight to allow a major decline of markets, and crop 2008 prices at a discount of EUR 40,- looked favourable, also compared to other grain prices.

By the end of November malt business inside the EU for delivery in 2009 commenced at a larger scale. Maltsters acted like last year, they did back-to-back business, avoiding anxiously any short position of barley. The Danish market, which had declined to EUR 250,- FOB seaport for shipment basis October 2008, reacted immediately, with a price jump of EUR 20,- per ton and finally the withdrawal of all offers. France had been a reluctant seller anyway, after the bad experiences of last year, prices of two-row spring barley, July, FOB Moselle, increased to EUR 285,- per ton. As there is no bearish factor visible, a continuation of malt purchases = barley purchases = firmer markets must be anticipated. Only a very good crop ...More Info

The barley crop turned out slightly better than the last ABARE forecast, a total quantity of 5.5 Mill. tons seems possible, according to analysts, December 3.

Australia’s domestic demand is estimated to be close to 1.0 Mill. tons for malting, 2.4 Mill. tons for feed and 0.2 Mill. tons for seeds and losses. That would leave an export surplus of approx. half a Million tons of malting barley and 1.5 – 2.0 Mill. tons of feed barley. Malting barley business to China is mainly done for shipment by container. Reported prices range from US$ 430,- to 490,- CIF, depending on the barley quality and freight cost.

There are three candidates for the 2008 HGCA Recommended winter barley List: Actrice, Marcorel and Wintmalt, according to Farmers Weekly Interactive, December 4.

Only one variety looks to have a chance of making it to the list, a fact reflecting the decline in importance of winter barley, says Mr Williams.

"Wintmalt appears an extremely strong candidate for addition, subject to malting trials results.

"While it's susceptible to yellow rust, its standing power is rather better than Flagon's, and BaYMV resistance will be a very valuable trait for committed malting barley growers."

Mr Fenwick is less convinced: "With a yield 1% ahead of Flagon and 2% on Cassata it may get recommended, but all will depend on whether maltsters and brewers want it. Will they give a firm answer - they're normally a bit wishy washy."

Like Cassata it has BaYMV resistance, but poor mildew and yellow rust defences, he notes.

"It's a borderline case. Is it really any advance on what is there already? Probably not."

But Mr Stephenson sees it as "the pick of the bunch".

In the feed category Actrice looks interesting, says Mr Williams. "It has very good resistance to rhyncho and net blotch coupled with strong untreated yield, which may make it a possible ...More Info