Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the world’s largest brewer, is seeking bids of as much as $2.5 billion this month for its South Korean unit, Bloomberg cited two people with knowledge of the matter on February, 3.

The Belgium-based brewer approached potential buyers ranging from South Korea’s Lotte Group and Japan’s Asahi Breweries Ltd. to SABMiller Plc, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are confidential.

Buyout funds, including Affinity Equity Partners Ltd., MBK Partners Ltd. and Unitas Capital, are also among potential bidders, they said.

Offers for the Oriental Brewery unit may come in at $2 billion to $2.5 billion, the people said. At that price, AB InBev may be able to repay almost all of the near-term debt stemming from the $52 billion merger that formed the company last year, uniting the biggest European and U.S. brewers, analysts comment.

“AB InBev has already taken crucial steps toward solving any short-term financing problems, and this sale would further improve that story,” Gerard Rijk, an analyst at ING, said by phone. He added that “$2.5 billion, even $2 billion, would be a fantastic price and much higher than expected.”

Initial bids for Oriental Brewery, which is wholly owned by the Belgian ...More Info

UK-based brewer Cobra Beer said on February, 3 that sales volumes grew 21% in the six months to January 31, 2009, Dow Jones reported on the same day.

The backdrop of UK’s total beer market constituted more than 8% in the three months to Dec. 31 2008.

In the quarter ended on January, 31, Cobra’s sales volume added 28%.

Within Cobra sales the Grocery & Convenience channel was the fastest growing segment with year on year sales volume growth of 63% in the first half.

"These results in the toughest of environments demonstrate the amazing potential of this brand that was created under twenty years ago and competes successfully with the giant brands of our industry, some of which are centuries old," said Chief Executive Adrian McKeon.

"Cobra now has high recognition, strong consumer loyalty, broad distribution and sustainable momentum," he added. "We are also extremely excited about two new products that we will be launching next month."

The members of the Union of Brewers in Bulgaria produced 5,357,888 hl of beer in 2008, the Union reported on January, 28.

Total sales of Bulgarian beer constituted 5,373,298 hl last year, of which Zagorka brewery’s sales amounted to 1,753,963 hl, Kamenitsa brewery sold 1,519,451 hl, Carlsberg Bulgaria – 1,497,380 hl, Bolyarka brewery – 490,183 hl, and Lomsko Pivo brewery sold 112,117 hl of beer.

Total investments made by Bulgarian brewers in 2008 amounted to more than BGL90 mln.

Bulgaria’s beer was exported mostly to Romania, Macedonia, United States and EU countries with large Bulgarian diasporas.

The nation’s per capita beer consumption was 73 litres in 2008.

Tsingtao Brewery Co., China’s largest beer company by sales, headed for the biggest drop in three weeks in Hong Kong trading after Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch & Co. cut its stock rating on concern revenue growth will slow, Bloomberg reported on February, 3.

The Chinese brewer declined 3.5 percent to HK$14.38 at the midday trading break in Hong Kong, set for the steepest slide since Jan. 8. Its Shanghai-traded shares slid 1.8 percent.

“Weaker consumer sentiment is taking a toll on beer consumption,” Merrill Lynch analysts Denise Chai and Tina Long said in a note to clients on February, 3. “Tsingtao appears to have missed our 2008 volume growth forecast.” They lowered their recommendation on the brewery to “underperform” from “buy.”

Slowing income growth is cooling demand for beer in China, whose economy grew 9 percent in 2008 after a 13 percent expansion in 2007. Per-capita disposable income in Chinese urban areas rose 8.4 percent in 2008, slowing from a 12.2 percent rate a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The brewery also bought a “large amount” of barley, an ingredient used in beer making, at a “relatively high price” when prices of the grain surged in the ...More Info

San Miguel Brewery told the stock exchange on February, 2 its board of directors "approved the issuance of peso and/or dollar bonds of up to 38.8 billion pesos" to fund its acquisition of domestic beer brands and real estate used by the brewery from its parent firm, Reuters communicated on February, 3.

San Miguel Brewery president Ramon Ang, also president of the parent firm San Miguel Corp, confirmed the timing of the offer was the first quarter of this year.

He said the company has yet to finalise the size of the possible peso and dollar issues, with the brewer still in talks with banks on the terms of the offer.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Philippines’ biggest beer maker hired a group of five banks to help it sell about $500 million of bonds.

Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and UBS AG will help the brewer sell five-year, dollar-denominated notes next month, according to a banker and company official involved in the deal, who declined to be identified because the plan is private. The company aims to sell about 15 billion pesos ($316 million) of bonds this month, people familiar with the ...More Info

Activity in malt markets has been negligible during the past two months due to holidays and the reluctance of brewers to commit themselves in times of a possible crisis, analysts reported on February, 2.

A notable exception has been the German brewing industry, which booked sizeable quantities of malt for delivery in 2010, thereby driving up barley markets.

Malt prices automatically improved somewhat as well, from EUR 340,-/350,-, delivered breweries, to EUR 360,-/380,-.

A large percentage of the brewers’ malt demand is covered by LTA’s, and it is quite possible that some of the brewing groups covered part of their open barley quantities under LTA’s for the crop 2009.

As forecasts are difficult for beer sales in 2009 and even 2010, many brewers are using options in their malt purchase contracts to take the smallest permitted quantity and choose the latest possible delivery period.

Arbitrations in Russia and South America will ensue to solve the disputes, analysts suppose.

The brewers’ policies have freed modest quantities of malt for new sales. There were and still are brewers, who had waited before covering their demand for 2009, and a few new contracts have been reported at favourable prices.

The latest malt production statistics is as follows: Germany’s ...More Info

World barley production is estimated at 156.1 mln tonnes in the crop year 2008/2009, up 17% on 133.5 mln tonnes in 2007/2008, IGC posted in its latest statistics report.

World barley trade is expected to embrace 19.4 mln tonnes (15.4 mln tonnes in the previous crop year). World barley consumption is expected to increase from last year’s 138 mln to 148 mln tonnes in 2008/2009. Estimates for carry-over stocks in barley were raised to 29.2 mln tonnes (21.4 mln tonnes in 2007/2008).

World trade has been inactive during the past two months, but shipments of formerly concluded contracts continued at a good pace, market participants reported at the beginning of this month.

EU export licences (July 1 – Jan. 20) were for 2.947 mln tonnes, Ukrainian shipments in July – December amounted to 4.670 mln tonnes, Russian shipments in the same period constituted 1.476 mln tonnes.

Canadian exports of 580,000 tonnes of barley and U.S. shipments of 202,000 tons are far below last year’s numbers, it is reported.

Market prices fell to a level, where government intervention came back into play in the EU and for the first time in Russia.

Purchases resp. offers to intervention to-date are: 113,000 tons in the EU, and ...More Info

Prices for both feed and malting barley were pushed up a little by the fact that the frequent snowfalls and sub-zero temperatures have shut down the flow of grain off the farms, The Farm & Ranch Guide reported on January, 31.

According to Randy Brag at Valley Grain Services in Casselton, North Dakota, feed barley prices moved up a dime or and malting barley saw a little upward movement as well, during the past two weeks.

“We've continued the movement upward another dime or so,” he said. “A lot of it is the weather we have had that's made any movement from the country real slow.”

The main problem with transportation is that township roads have been plugged and farm yards filled up with snow.

“The upward response was more for feed barley, there was a little on the malting side, but most of the maltsters are plugged up,” he added.

Brag estimated the average elevator cash price in North Dakota is in a rather wide range of $2.25 to $3 because of the discounts that some are facing from having light test weight barley. Malting prices are in a narrower range of $3.85 to $4 a bushel.

“What we are watching right now is where ...More Info

The International Grain Council estimates the EU-27 barley crop 2008 at 65.9 mln tonnes, which is an absolute record, analysts communicated on February, 2.

Export licence bookings to-date are 2.95 mln tonnes of barley. Export business has been negligible since weeks, because the price comparison shows US$ 155,- vs. 135,-/140,- in favour of Black Sea barley, FOB vessel, with an added freight advantage for the Black Sea to most Middle East destinations.

Domestic barley consumption in the EU is expected to increase by 2.5 to 54.0 mln tonnes, carry-over stocks will be 9.4 mln tonnes, not much more than a two months demand.

In November, first offers were made to intervention, but markets recovered since and intervention activities came to a halt.

In the export and consumption markets of Northern France, Benelux and Northwest Germany feed barley is offered much cheaper, by EUR 15,-/20,-, than feed wheat and maize. Farmers abstain from selling, as they are infuriated about price levels, for malting barley even more than for feed barley.

Price comparison:

Feed barley, July, delivered Rouen, EUR 116,- and January, delivered Hamburg, EUR 120,-. Malting barley 2rs, crop 2008, July, FOB Creil EUR 132,-, Fob Moselle 142,-. 6rw, July FOB Creil. Cervoise 112,-, Esterel nominally 120,-, ...More Info

EU, Canada and Australia compete aggressively in the Chinese market, the No. 1 importer of malting barley in the world, industry experts reported earlier this month.

Most recent prices were between US$ 230,- and 240,- CIF for two-row spring barley.

Shipments are predominantly done in bulk vessels again, since freight rates have deteriorated around 90 % down from their top levels.

Fluctuations in currency markets also affect competitiveness of the various origins. Rumours are that the EU sold 100,000 tons of French 2rs barley in recent weeks, and 250 – 300,000 tons for the campaign.

Canada has been reported for sales of 250-300,000 tons as well, Australia for approximately 200,000 – 250,000 tons.

Total Chinese barley imports for the year are forecast to reach 1.2 mln tons. Imports were 913,000 tons in 2007 and 1.076 mln tons in 2008.

Total Chinese malting barley demand is estimated to be 3.3 mln tons. As prices dropped to unrewarding levels, Chinese farmers have diverted their plantings and planting intentions to more profitable crops. It is believed that the top quality producing provinces of Gansu and Inner Mongolia will harvest much smaller crops in 2009.

Marketa Dvorakova, Maelle Douanier, Marie Jurkova, Vladimir Kellner and Pavel Dostalek

Abstract:
J. Inst. Brew. 114(2), 150–159, 2008 Hot water (45°C) extracts of ten barley varieties and their corresponding malts were analyzed in terms of antioxidant activity. The ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and radical scavenging activity (ABTS), ranged from 0.23–0.45 mg GAE/gdw for malt and 0.12–0.25 mg GAE/gdw for barley. The hull-less malt KM 1910 was the variety with the best antioxidant properties, whereas the highest antioxidant capacity for barley was detected for the variety Merlin. A significant positive correlation between the methods FRAP, ABTS and ITT was found (p < 0.01). The influence of fertilization (20 kg N/ha) on barley antioxidant capacity was studied. The results obtained suggest that the impact of fertilization was not evident and that it depends significantly on barley genotype. The total polyphenol content, as measured according to Folin-Ciocalteu’s method, ranged from 0.6–2.9 mg GAE/gdw and correlated positively with all the antioxidant methods used (p < 0.01). Free phenolic compounds were measured by HPLC with a CoulArray detector. The dominant phenolic compound was ferulic acid and its content ranged from 12.5–21.9 and 7.8–56.1 mg/gdw for barley and malt, respectively. The content of catechin ranged from 11.0–17.0 mg/gdw in barley and 0.9–12.1 mg/gdw in malt. Key words: antioxidant capacity, barley, electrochemical detection, HPLC, malt. Load full article, 10 pages, 1237 Kb, PDF file