Shipments of beer and quasi-beer beverages in Japan in November fell 1.1 pct from a year before to 39,293,000 cases due to a plunge in demand for "happoshu" beverages, Jiji Press reported December 12.

Shipments of happoshu low-malt quasi-beer beverages sank 9.8 pct to 9,031,000 cases, posting the seventh straight month of decline, amid a dearth of new product launches.

Each case contains the equivalent of 20 633-milliliter bottles.

Beer shipments dropped 1.2 pct to 22,124,000 cases, marking the first fall in two months, on the back of slow demand from restaurants.

But shipments of third-segment beverages, which have little or no malt content, grew 10.8 pct to 8,137,000 cases, a record for November, led by new products.

Among major brewers, Kirin Brewery Co. and Suntory Ltd. posted gains, while Sapporo Breweries Ltd. and Asahi Breweries Ltd. suffered drops.

Nigerian Breweries PLC has declared a total of N17.9 billion as Profit before Tax (PBT) for the nine months ended 30th September, 2007, Vanguard published December 14. This represents a 42 per cent increase over the N12.6 billion, which it declared as PBT for the same period in 2006.

The company's un-audited and provisional result for the third quarter released over the weekend also shows that it made a turnover of N77.5 billion, representing a 26 per cent increase over the N61.5 billion achieved for the corresponding period of 2006.

The rise in turnover resulted from the market growth which began mid-2006 and continued during the outgoing year.

The company also recorded a 146 per cent reduction on its Net Financing Cost from a negative figure of N612.27 million in the third quarter of 2006 to a positive figure of N280.9 million in 2007 indicating a significant reduction in the Net Financing Cost.

The company's Profit after Tax (PAT) for the period under review stood at N12.0 billion, showing a 42 per cent increase over the N8.45 billion recorded in the preceding year.

From a statement by Nigerian Breweries, the company's market leadership continued during the third quarter of 2007 and the Directors are of ...More Info

Japan's No. 1 beer, Asahi Super Dry, was launched in India by Sula Selections, the import arm of Sula Vineyards at Shiro, Smashits reported November 28.

Asahi Super Dry is the 9th largest-selling beer in the world. Sula Selections is the exclusive importer and distributor of Asahi in India, adding to a strong portfolio that includes Hardys of Australia, Two Oceans of South Africa, Chianti Ruffino of Italy and Mateus Rose of Portugal.

SABMiller, the world's second-biggest brewer which is buying Grolsch NV, has acquired a 5 percent stake in the Dutch company, the Dutch stock market regulator said, according to Reuters, December 13.

Last month, SABMiller agreed to acquire Grolsch for 816 million euros ($1.2 billion) in cash or 48.25 euros a share to reinforce its position in the fast-growing premium beer market.

London-based SABMiller makes Miller Lite, Castle and Peroni beers. Grolsch gets the bulk of its income in the Netherlands, with Britain as its second-biggest market.

Dutch hotel and catering industry association Koninklijke Horeca Nederland has dropped its legal cases against breweries Heineken, Grolsch and Bavaria, according to Thomson Financial, December 13.

The association sued the breweries to get financial compensation after the European Commission fined the breweries for forming a beer cartel in the 1990s.

Just one of the breweries was initially interested in talking to the catering association to come to a voluntary agreement on compensation, the association said, but other breweries refused, triggering the lawsuits.

Now, however, all the breweries have indicated that they are willing to discuss the matter 'openly and directly,' removing the necessity of the lawsuits, which were started in September of this year, the association said in a statement.

Cascade Brewery, a major Tasmanian brewery will import barley for the first time in 18 years, according to ABC News, December 13.

After two dry seasons, the Cascade Brewery will need to find up to half its malting barley from the mainland.

The grain shortage also means it will have to pay 30 per cent more.

Cascade's maltings manager, Roger Ibbott, says the imported grain will need to be segregated to preserve the brewery's iconic Tasmanian brand.

"Whereas when it's all local it doesn't matter, we can just use any malt that we've got in our storage for any of our products, once we bring in grain from interstate, we've got to look at where we use that," he says.

"And we'll be looking to use that in the brands that are not our Tasmanian brands. So the products that we make that are more generic Fosters brands".

While the activity on this year barley crop stays limited, European malsters are more interested in covering their needs for the 2008 crop, according to La Depeche, December 13.

Production is estimated to have increased by 15% to 11.0 Mt, slightly lower than the 10-year average, due to higher seeded area, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, December 10.

However, supply has declined slightly as a result of significantly lower carry-in stocks. Crop quality is slightly below average. Exports are forecast to rise sharply, while domestic feed use decreases. Carry-out stocks are projected to decrease by 13%. The average off- Board feed barley price (No.1 CW I/S Lethbridge) is forecast to increase driven by strong export demand and the strength in other markets.

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.