The broad entering of foreign beer brands from the European community didn’t reflect Bulgarian beer brands sales in the first year of the Bulgarian membership in the EU, according to FOCUS News Agency, December 9. On the contrary, 11 – 14% increase in beer sales would be registered this year, President of the Council of the Union of Brewers in Bulgaria Vladimir Ivanov said.

On the whole, the first year of European membership had good influence on the brewing industry in Bulgaria. The brewers had been prepared concerning the technological equipment, diversity of brands and quality of Bulgarian beer, he added.

Carlsberg and Heineken (the “Consortium”) notes recent media reports and confirms that, whilst it has no plans to raise its proposal above 750 pence, it wishes to re-confirm that it reserves the right to increase its proposal should it so decide, according to companies’ press releases, December 11. The Consortium reiterates that its proposal to acquire Scottish & Newcastle plc (“S&N”) for 750 pence per share in cash delivers full and fair value and is at a level substantially in excess of the standalone independent value of S&N.

The Consortium continues to seek engagement with the board of S&N to convert the proposal into a firm offer. Whilst the Consortium retains the right to improve its proposal, there can be no certainty that it will do so, or that any offer will be made.

The Saigon Brewery Corporation (Sabeco) started the construction of the Saigon-Song Lam Brewery Plant, located on the two communes of Nam Giang and Hung Dao in the two districts of Nam Dan and Hung Nguyen in central Nghe An province, Nhan Dan reported December 11.

Total investment for the plant is put at VND 1,450 billion. The plant is equipped with advanced technology from Germany’s Krones Group. It has a design capacity of 100 million litres of beer annually. Upon its completion, it will create jobs for hundreds of local workers.

At the ground breaking ceremony, Sabeco presented VND 50 million and Krones Group donated US $ 10,000 to help poor people in the province.

Brick Brewing Co. Ltd. announced its third quarter financial results, reporting a net loss of C$858 thousand or C$0.04 per share, compared to net earnings of C$40 thousand or breakeven per share in the same quarter last year, RTTNews reported December 11.

Net revenues for the quarter declined to C$7.54 million, from C$8.7 million in the prior year quarter. Gross revenues for the quarter decreased 7.2% to C$16.91 million, from C$18.22 million in the same quarter previous year.

For the nine-month period, the company posted a net loss of C$1.47 million or C$0.06 per share, compared to net earnings of C$1.13 million or C$0.03 per share in the same period last year. Net revenues for the period were C$24.04 million, down from C$27.3 million in the same period prior year. Gross revenues for the period decreased to C$54.55 million, from C$57.55 million in the same period previous year.

Baltika Breweries announced it had started to export beer in PET bottles to Germany, according to company’s press release, December 10. Baltika had previously been registered as an operator on the one-time packaging German market, being the first Russian company which passed the registration process in Deutsche Pfandsystem GmbH (DPG) – organization which administrates one-time packaging turnover on the German market.

Baltika Breweries is the leader on the Russian beer market. In 2006 Baltika merged with the companies Vena, Pikra and Yarpivo.

The Baltika brand occupies second place in Europe in terms of sales. The Company owns 11 breweries across all of Russia and has an extensive portfolio of brands. Baltika has around 12,000 employees.

Varun Beverages Pvt. Ltd., the Nepali bottler of Pepsi range of soft drinks has signed an agreement with Inbev, the Belgium based world’s largest beer company to produce and sell in Nepal Lowenbrau brand of beer, according to Businessage, December 11. The brewing is to be done in the brewery of SunGold Beverage of Chaudhary Group. The plan is to launch the Lowenbrau before the Dashain festival.

Varun Beverage is fully owned by Pepsi India.

Nepali market consumes almost 420 million bottles of beer every year. Out of that market, brands from Gorkha Brewery occupy about 85 per cent while the rest is shared among Mt. Everest Brewery, SunGold Beverage and United Brewery.

The world beer output in 2006 rose by 6 % to 1,699 Mill. hl (as per Barth), composed of 15 % in China and 4 % in the rest of the world. China may well repeat its performance and increase beer sales to 400 Mill. hl this year, according to analysts, December 3.

At the end of 2006 China’s malting capacity was reported to be 4,070 Mill. tons. New malthouses are being constructed everywhere in the country, by the end of 2008 the total malt capacity may reach 5.0 to 5.5 Mill. tons. If China‘s beer output rises to 450 Mill. HL in 2008 and brewers are using only 9 kilos of malt per hl, the country will need about 4 Mill. tons of malt. In theory China could become a very large exporter of malt. However, geography and logistics make it unlikely that China can export more than a few hundred thousand tons per year. In 2007 exports are estimated to reach 200,000, next year 300,000 tons, from modern factories near the seaboard.

The biggest problem, however, will be barley supplies. Where can China procure 6 or 7 Mill. tons of malting barley? This year China’s barley was good in ...More Info

The French farm ministry estimated that the country's area sown with winter barley is expected to expand, at 1.23 million hectares, up 3.5 percent from 2007 and 11 percent above the five-year average, Reuters reported December 10.

Crop results of Brazil and Uruguay are confirmed to be disappointing, in Parana, Rio Grande do Sul and in Uruguay yields are about 30 % lower than a year ago, high protein and small grain size are problems in parts of the region, analysts reported December 3.

EU trade and industry had counted on a large and good barley crop in Argentina, min. 1,7 Mill. tons had been forecast. In November untimely frosts, accompanied by heavy rainfalls, spoiled all hopes. At this moment it is impossible to give an exact account of the damages, but estimates are between 30 and 50 %.

Czech hops growers this year harvested 5,630 tonnes of hops, 3 percent more than last year, and per hectare yield was 1.04 tonnes, 0.03 tonne more year-on-year, Zdenek Rosa, secretary of the Hops Growers' Association told CTK, December 11.

Last year's hops harvest was below average.

In 2005, 7,831 tonnes of hops were harvested, at per hectare yield of 1.38 tonnes.

This year's harvest was 28 percent lower than in 2005.

"The economic situation of hops growers was not very good last year, and will not improve this year. The current purchasing price of Kc150,000 per tonne does not enable farmers to invest. We would like the price to be Kc10,000 to Kc15,000 higher," the association's chairman said earlier.

Hops fields this year covered 5,389 hectares, 25 hectares less year-on-year. This is the smallest area in 136 years. In 1871, hops fields in the country covered 5,300 hectares, and the area was then growing steadily. In 1993, the country had a record 10,547 hectares of hops fields.

By area of hops fields, the Czech Republic ranks third in the world behind Germany and the USA. Some 80-to- 85 percent of Czech hops is exported, and Japan is the biggest buyer.