The European Commission approved a plan by beer giant Carlsberg to buy part of rival Scottish & Newcastle, a portion of a deal that also involves Dutch brewer Heineken, Reuters reported March 7. "The Commission's examination of the proposed transaction showed that it would not lead to competition concerns in any of the markets considered," it said in a statement.

Carlsberg and Heineken agreed in January to buy Scottish and Newcastle (S&N) for 7.8 billion pounds ($15.7 billion) to carve up Britain's biggest brewer, the maker of Foster's, Kronenbourg and Newcastle Brown Ale.

Denmark's Carlsberg has said the deal will make it the fastest-growing global brewer by boosting its presence in Russia. Heineken, Europe's No. 1 brewer, said its European sales would now be twice those of its nearest rival.

S&N and Carlsberg agreed to release projected information for their 50-50 Russia-based Baltic Beverages Holding joint venture for 2008 to 2010, which had been a sticking point in the takeover fight.

Under the break-up plan, Carlsberg will take full control of Baltic Beverages. It will also get S&N's interests in France, Greece, China and Vietnam.

Heineken will take over S&N's British business, which includes Strongbow cider and John Smith's beer, along with its operations in ...More Info

Barely a year after opening a new brewery in Mongolia, Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd (APB) is pleased to announce the completion of yet another greenfield brewery, now in Vientiane, the capital of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos), according to company’s press release, March 12. This brings the brewery group another stride closer to realizing its ambition of becoming the leading brewery group in the Asia Pacific region, with 33 operating breweries in 12 countries. Not only does this latest investment in Laos complete APB’s already prominent brewery presence in the high-growth Indochina region, it also marks a key milestone in APB’s strategy to introduce locally-produced Tiger Beer to the Lao consumers.

Officially opened by Mr Wong Kan Seng, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs and Mr Asang Laoly, Lao’s Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman, State Control Commission, on Wednesday, 12 March 2008, this €23 million (approximately S$49 million) brewery established by Lao Asia Pacific Breweries Limited (LAPB), a joint venture company between APB (68%), the Government of Laos (25%) and SBK Consultant Ltd (7%), is the second brewer to be granted a beer investment licence by the Government of Laos.

The new 300,000-hectolitre state-of-the-art brewery occupies a 13-hectare site ...More Info

Beer and quasi-beer shipments in Japan in February grew 6.5 pct from a year before thanks to increasing purchases of Asahi Breweries Ltd.'s products before its price hikes in March, industry data showed, according to Jiji Press, March 12.

Shipments in the month totalled 34,351,000 cases, rising for the third straight month. Each case contains the equivalent of 20 633-milliliter bottles.

By category, shipments of beer surged 19.8 pct to 19,003,000 cases, led by growth of over 60 pct in Asahi's flagship Super Dry, which occupies a share of 50 pct.

Shipments of "happoshu" low-malt beer-like beverages decreased 9.3 pct to 8,969,000 cases, the first drop in three months, and those of so-called third-segment alcoholic beverages, which have little or no malt content, dropped 2.0 pct to 6,379,000 cases, the first decline in five months.

The decreases in the happoshu and third-segment sectors reflect price hikes in February by Kirin Brewery Co., which leads those markets.

By maker, Asahi saw sales volume jump more than 50 pct, while Sapporo Breweries Ltd., Suntory Ltd. and Kirin suffered drops.

The Czech government has picked law firm Kriz & Belina as its legal adviser for converting national enterprise Budejovicky Budvar into a joint stock company ahead of the brewery's planned privatisation, daily Hospodarske Noviny reported, according to Thomson Financial, March 11.

The daily also said the government hopes to raise "tens of billions of crowns" from the sale but is unlikely to complete the privatization this year.

Budvar's most valuable asset is its brand name. Its rights over the Budvar brand mean US brewing giant Anheuser-Busch, maker of Budweiser, is prevented from accessing many markets.

The daily said Budvar's brand name was estimated to be worth up to 1 bln euro although Budvar's CEO denied that any audit of the brand's value has ever been made, the daily said.

Dutch brewer Heineken NV, the world's fourth largest producer of beer, is keen to buy additional shares in Singapore-listed Asia Pacific Breweries (APB), the maker of Tiger Beer, the Business Times reported, according to Thomson Financial, March 10.

'There's no immediate plan, but we always like to increase our economic share in this part of the world if the opportunity arises,' the newspaper quoted Siep Hiemstra, head of Heineken Asia Pacific, as saying.

'APB is a very successful company and if we see the opportunity and someone wants to sell and we can buy at a value we find interesting economically, we would always want to buy. But I think most of the shareholders want to keep their shares,' Hiemstra said.

Heineken holds about 42 percent stake in APB, while Singapore conglomerate Fraser & Neave owns 39.8 percent.

The Boston Beer Company, Inc. posted record fourth quarter net revenue of $92.2 million, an increase of 25.7% over the same period last year, PRNewswire reported March 11.The net revenue increase in the fourth quarter was primarily driven by a 19.5% core shipment volume increase and an increase in net revenue per barrel of approximately 5.2%. Fourth quarter earnings per diluted share increased to $0.46 from $0.17 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2006, after taking into account a $2.2 million or $0.15 per diluted share provision for income taxes related to an income tax audit.

For the twelve months ended December 29, 2007, net revenue increased by 19.7% to $341.6 million and the Company's earnings per diluted share were $1.53, a 20% or $0.26 increase compared to the same period of 2006. Excluding the impact of the write off of $3.4 million ($0.13 per diluted share) in capitalized costs related to the Massachusetts brewery project in the second quarter and the provision for excise taxes of $3.9 million ($0.14 per diluted share) in the third quarter related to an audit preformed by the Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (the "TTB"), the Company realized earnings ...More Info

The Chinese malt market is connected to the rest of the world by constant barley imports and fast increasing malt exports, analysts have recently reported.

Otherwise China is different, the smallest usage of malt per HL of beer, and a large overcapacity of malt. Chinese malt exports are increasing, but will always be limited by logistics and barley supplies. The exact numbers of its present malting capacity and of construction plans are not even known inside China.

The CWB has released a mid-month Pool Return Outlook (PRO) for the 2007-08 crop year, increasing the feed barley forecast returns by CA$23 per tonne to reflect recent developments in the world's largest barley import market, according to CWB's press release, March 10.

PRO Commentary 2007-08 crop year

Feed barley

International feed barley prices will be impacted by a March 5 decision of the government of Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest importer of barley. In order to increase barley usage and conserve wheat-flour supplies, the Saudi government increased its import subsidy for barley by 71 per cent. Saudi consumers had been using wheat flour and other grains as substitutes for feed barley, but the government's subsidy increase should restore the demand for feed barley and increase the price in global markets.

Given the current opportunities in the marketplace, farmers may wish to take advantage of a CWB Guaranteed Delivery Contract (GDC) for feed barley that assures delivery calls by a certain date for contracted tonnage. Farmers also have the choice of pricing barley committed to the GDC using an Early Payment Option or Fixed Price Contract. Sign-up for the first GDC feed barley offer is effective immediately with guaranteed 100-per cent acceptance and delivery call ...More Info

Agricultural researchers in Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia have teamed up to create drought-resistant and salt-tolerant varieties of barley better suited to the North African region, SciDev reported March 11.

The project, funded by the Canadian International Development Research Centre and overseen by the New Partnership for Africa's Development North Africa Biosciences Network, will see thirty scientists from five organisations spending the next two years developing the barley varieties.

Barley is traditionally used as animal feed in much of North Africa, but lack of alternative food sources is leading to human consumption.

Algeria's National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRAA), Egypt's National Research Centre and Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute, and Tunisia's Centre of Biotechnology and National Institute of Agriculture Research will be involved in the project.

The researchers met in Borj Essedria in southern Tunisia last month (10–11 February) to discuss genetic techniques — including genetic modification — that could be used to increase barley's nutritional quality, as well as make it drought- and saltwater-tolerant.

"We want to develop two varieties of barley in each country, making a total of six varieties expected to be resistant to drought and high salinity," says Hussein Irikti, coordinator of scientific activities and research for INRAA, which is overseeing Algeria's ...More Info

About 90% of total barley seeded area is on converted rice paddy land, and is strongly affected by the rice policy and subsequent reforms, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, March 7. Production peaked in 2002-2003, but has steadily fallen since then. For 2007-2008, barley production is forecast at 165 kt, marginally lower than last year. Barley is consumed as a feed grain in the Japanese livestock industry. Annual domestic use is about 1.6 Mt.

Food use in Japan is stable at around 300 kt. With small, and declining domestic barley production levels, Japan relies heavily on imports. Over the last 10 years, imports have averaged about 1.5 Mt. This makes Japan the world’s third largest market for barley, following Saudi Arabia and China. Australia is Japan’s primary supplier of barley, with an approximate market share of 60%, mostly due to its relative proximity. This position is further strengthened in the face of rising transportation costs (rail and ocean freight).

Drought conditions, however, plagued Australia again this year reducing the size of its exportable supply. Canada is the second largest supplier with exports ranging between 200 and 300 kt, the majority used for feed. The US competes with Canada only ...More Info

U.S. balance sheets for barley are changing this month, driven by updated forecasts for marketing year trade, according to USDA, March 11. Barley exports are projected 5 million bushels lower based on the pace of exports and sales. Feed and residual use is raised 5 million bushels leaving barley ending stocks unchanged.

The barley season-average price is projected at $3.95 to $4.15 per bushel, narrowed and lowered from $3.85 to $4.35 per bushel last month based on prices received by farmers to date.

P. M. Tansing, S. J. Logue, S. Roumeliotis, R. Kaczmarek and A. R. Barr Adelaide University, Dept. of Plant Science, PMB1, Glen Osmond, SA, 5064, Australia


Introduction
In order to achieve malting grade, Australian barley must generally have a grain protein (GP) concentration of between 9.0 – 11.8 % (ABB Grain Ltd). For overseas markets, the trend is towards an even tighter GP range (10.0 – 11.5 % GP). Management of malting segregations can be difficult for bulk handling authorities, and therefore "active stack management" of grain that allows for the inclusion of a wider range of GP to achieve an ideal "average" GP is an attractive solution.
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