Chile's largest brewer, CCU, said it plans to invest some $400 million through 2010, mainly to expanding its production capacity at existing plants, according to Reuters, April 17.

CCU, also Argentina's third-largest brewer, announced last week that sales volume rose 10.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2008 from the same period a year earlier.

"Investments will total a little over $400 million," Chief Executive Patricio Jottar told reporters following a shareholders meeting. "This is fundamentally to expand existing plants."

"Our sales volumes are growing in every category, so we need to expand plants in all categories."

In 2007, CCU sales volumes grew 6.1 percent while revenues increased 7.2 percent.

Heineken Holding N.V. announced that its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) has adopted all proposals on the agenda of the annual meeting of Heineken Holding N.V, according to Heineken’s press release, April 17. The most important resolutions and announcements are listed below. Acquisition Scottish & Newcastle plc

The AGM has approved the acquisition by Sunrise Acquisitions Ltd., a company jointly owned by Heineken N.V. and Carlsberg A/S, of the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Scottish & Newcastle plc and the subsequent 100% shareholding by Heineken N.V. of Sunrise Acquisitions Ltd. after transfer by it of certain businesses of Scottish & Newcastle plc to Carlsberg A/S. Dividend

The Board of Directors announced the distribution of a dividend over 2007 of €0.70 per ordinary share of €1.60 nominal value. Since an interim dividend of €0.24 was paid on 20 September 2007, the final dividend will be €0.46 per ordinary share. The final dividend will be made payable as of Friday 25 April 2008. Heineken Holding N.V. shares will be quoted ex-dividend on Monday 21 April 2008.

Australians are turning their backs on lower-strength beers and boosting sales of higher-alcohol pre-mixed drinks, fuelling fresh concerns that the nation's young are developing a drinking problem, Australian media reported April 16.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data released yesterday show growth in the availability of pre-mixed drinks outstripped increases in all other categories of alcohol.

Low- and mid-strength beers fared worst, with supply volumes falling by 7.8per cent and 10.9 per cent respectively to 199 million and 223 million litres.

But full-strength beers gained ground last year, up 1.7per cent from 2006 to 1.3 billion litres.

Gino Vumbaca, executive director of the Australian National Council on Drugs, said the shift in preference to stronger, ready-to-drink alcohol worried him.

He said it coincided with a rise in risky drinking patterns, despite the steady rates of consumption of pure alcohol on a per capita basis identified in the ABS report.

"It's time to stop treating alcohol as just another thing on the grocery shelf. It's not - it's a drug," Mr Vumbaca said.

He said alcohol should face restrictions in its production, marketing, distribution and use, starting with a crackdown on pre-mixed drinks targeting the young.

"What we've seen is an onslaught of advertising, particularly for the pre-mixed drinks, the ...More Info

Asia Pacific Breweries said it is looking at either setting up a brewery in north India or acquiring an existing one, but has not set any timeline for the purpose, Economic Times reported April 16.

"We desire to have a brewery in north India especially in Punjab or Harayana or Rajasthan. There is no timeline set for it as we are not in a hurry," Asia Pacific Breweries Regional Director Vivek Chhabra told reporters here.

Chhabra was in the city to launch the company's flagship beer brand Tiger.

At present, the company has breweries at Aurangabad in Maharashtra and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, to feed the western and southern regions.

Soon, Tiger beer would be launched in Delhi and Andhra Pradesh where it is working to get the approvals, he said. The company has invested $50 million for both its breweries in India and it is prepared to invest more in its brewery in the north.

"Funding is not an issue. Our investments in India are a fraction of what it is in China. We are open to new opportunities," Chhabra said. For Tiger beer, the company imports all the ingredients and prepares liquor at the company's Aurangabad unit.

Last year, it launched Baron's Strong Beer. ...More Info

South African Breweries (SAB) has reported flat volume growth in SA although it lost Amstel last March, Business Day reported April 17. The licence to brew Amstel, which accounted for 9% of SA sales, was yanked by Heineken and the beer is now fully imported. SAB initially expected to gain back 4,5% of its Amstel share and the launch of Hansa Marzen Gold just after SA ran out of Amstel was well received. Other brands in the SAB stable also benefited, such as Castle Light. A fuller picture should emerge when full year results are released next month.

Heineken did not get the brew back into SA until October. The move was costly -- importing full bottles cannot be cheap -- and now there is a R4.7bn investment by it and partner Diageo in a brewery.

Just how much market it commands is not clear, but it cannot be more than 10%, as SAB had 98% before losing Amstel. But SAB doesn't seem worried. The brewery will be up only at the end of next year, and SAB has proven its ability to hold on to market share.

Australia’s largest malt manufacturer, Joe White Maltings, is set to increase production at its Devonport plant to keep up with increased demand, ABB reported April 18.

The Tasmanian plant, which has been in operation since 1967 and is wholly owned by leading Australian agribusiness ABB Grain, has a current capacity of 5000 tonnes.

Barley and Malt Business Unit Manager for ABB Grain Rob Wicks said the Devonport plant was dedicated to supplying premium malt to the James Boag & Sons brewery in Launceston.

“We are expanding our production capacity to meet the increasing demand from Boags for premium Tasmanian malt produced from premium Tasmanian malting barley,” he said.

The Tasmanian plant was extensively refitted in 2004 with reconditioning of its germination drums. The recommissioning of a third drum will take the plant capacity from 5000 tonnes to about 7000 tonnes.

Mr Wicks said the upgrades would result in improved prospects for Tasmanian barley growers.

“This means that Tasmanian barley growers will have additional, secure, long-term demand for their malting barley,” he said.

“ABB Grain is eager to meet with barley growers in Tasmania and will have a stall at the three-day Agfest field day event early next month.”

Joe White Maltings recently celebrated its 150th anniversary. Since its ...More Info

Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) held its second 2008 Simultaneous Buy and Sell (SBS) program for feed barley on April 16, 2008, U.S. Grains Council reported in a press release, April 17.The tender amount announced by MAFF was 331,000 metric tons (15.2 million bushels) of feed barley.

The actual tendered quantities were 179,740 metric tons (8.2 million bushels).

“Based on conversations with Japanese trade, we estimate the results for the second SBS feed barley tender in 2008 to include 54,740 tons (2.5 million bushels) from the United States, 10,000 tons (459,000 bushels) from Canada and 105,000 tons (4.8 million bushels) being sourced from Australia,” said Cary Sifferath, U.S. Grains Council senior director in Japan. “However, remember that these are just estimates based on discussions with Japanese trade. We are still trying to clear up how much Canadian barley was traded. It is possible that the 10,000 tons (459,000 bushels) I mentioned is also U.S. barley.”

He said Argentina stepped in as a small player during the last tender, but did not have a presence at the most recent SBS. However, Australia made its way back into the SBS tenders after seeing limited or even zero amounts over the last four ...More Info

After several transactions in old crop, the malting barley market was calm this week, according to La Depeche, April 18. The operators are in expectation of the new crop, although there are some agreements in Esterel.

Denmark importantly increased its surfaces in spring barley. According to Cocereal’s estimations the total surfaces will reach 550,000 ha against 459,000 ha in 2007 and a forecasted production of 2.78 Mt (2.24 Mt in 2007).

Cocereal forecasts German spring barley production at 2.42 Mt against 2.12 Mt in 2007. But this country is suffering from abundant rains which could harm the sowings.

The sowings are at 90% in England, 40% in Scotland, 25% in Denmark, 10% in Sweden and 70% In Germany.

The prices for feed barley slightly decreased this week following the prices fro wheat. There were some non-important deals from food producers.

A rare and dramatic surge in the price of hops used in beer-brewing is drawing more farmland and investment into the crop in Washington, the top state in the nation for hops production, Puget Sound Business Journal published April 11.

The price of the pure resin extract of hop cones, the ingredient that gives beer a tinge of bitterness, has climbed nearly 5-fold, to about $200 a kilogram from $40 several years ago, said Steve Carpenter, CEO of Yakima Chief Inc., a Sunnyside hops processor.

Last year, Washington hops farmers planted 22,745 acres of hops, up from a low of 19,382 acres in 2004, according to National Agricultural Statistics Services numbers. This year, forecasts call for another 5,000 acres to be planted, at a cost of about $30 million.

The higher prices have rapidly boosted hops farmers' income in the state. Revenue from hops is up 46 percent, to $128 million in 2007, from 2006 and is expected to climb again this year.

M. Trnka1, P. Hlavinka1, D. Semerádová1, M. Dubrovský2, Z. Žalud1, M. Možný3

1Institute of Agrosystems and Bioclimatology, Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, Czech Republic; 2Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic; 3Agrometeorological Observatory in Doksany, Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Prague, Czech Republic

ABSTRACT
The relationship between detrended district yields of spring barley (1961–2000) and meteorological drought was assessed by Palmer Z-index. We found that the seasonal water balance (April–June) significantly (P = 0.05) influences the spring barley production in 51 out of 62 evaluated districts. Coefficients of correlation varied in individual districts from 0.19 to 0.70, with the highest values being found in southern Moravia. Data analysis revealed the presence of six distinct groups of districts with a specific drought-yield relationship. The most drought-sensitive cluster included five districts in the South East of the country. On the other hand, the districts in Northern Moravia and Silesia belong among the least sensitive to agricultural drought. The study also defined threshold values of seasonal drought (sums of relative Palmer Z-index lower than –8 and –10, respectively), below which medium to severe spring barley yield reductions are very likely, regardless of the district of occurrence.
... Load full article, 6 pages, 2.224 Kb, PDF file