Kirin Holdings Co., the company incorporating Japan’s No. 1 brewer, posted on August, 6 an 82% decline in net profit for the first half of this year and raised its annual profit forecast 5.3 percent on currency gains.

The company reported a net profit of 14.96 billion yen, compared with a net profit of 81.12 billion yen in the same period in the previous year.

The year-earlier net figure was inflated by a special profit of 72.6 billion yen from stock swaps related to the consolidation of its drug-making unit Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co.

Kirin said its sales during the period stood at 1.060 trillion yen, a 1.2% gain from the 1.048 trillion yen in sales reported a year prior. Operating profit dropped 16% on year to 40.18 billion yen, partly due to the yen's strength against the Australian dollar.

In the beer market, Kirin said it received strong customer support for the re-launch of Kirin Ichiban Shibory Nama Beer with 100% malt to mark the approach of its 20th anniversary; sales volume increased, helping to support a beer market that is increasingly being challenged by the growh of the new genre category. Combined sales volume of beer, happoshu, and new genre increased, Kirin ...More Info

According to the latest Barth report, world’s beer production grew by 1.6% to 1.816 mln hl in 2008. For the current year, despite all negative factors, industry analysts still expect total beer output to increase to 1.823 mln hl.

The positive forecast is based on recent sales statistics, on long-term trends and estimates received from brewers, analysts comment. The latest beer sales figures include: Russia Jan/June minus 6.8%, Ukraine Jan/June minus 6.3%, Germany Jan/June minus 4.5%, USA Jan/June minus 0.6%, Brazil est. Jan/June plus 5%, Japan Jan/June plus 0.2%, China Jan/Jun plus 6%.

The world may end up with another small increase of beer sales, thanks to China and Brazil, which will more than compensate the heavy losses in Europe, experts believe.

Tsingtao Brewery Co., China’s second-biggest beer maker by volume, said first-half profit rose 68 percent as the declining price of barley cut manufacturing costs, Bloomberg reported on August, 6.

Net income in the six months to June rose to 639.8 million yuan ($94 million), or 0.489 yuan a share, from 381.1 million yuan, or 0.2931 yuan, a year ago, based on Hong Kong accounting standards, the company said in a statement to Shanghai’s stock exchange.

Sales rose 15 percent to 9.1 billion yuan, it said.

Chairman Jin Zhiguo has been reorganizing management of the Chinese brewery, which was founded by German settlers more than a century ago. The price of barley has dropped 35 percent in the year to June, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

The price of barley, one of the key ingredients in beer production, fell to A$201.7 ($170) a metric ton in the 12 months to June 30, from a record A$312.3 a year ago, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Canada and Australia are the biggest exporters of the grain to China, according to the Chinese customs bureau.

“Going into the second half of this year, the recovery of consumption ...More Info

Chilean beverage company Cervecerias Unidas SA (CCU) posted on August, 5 its consolidated financial results, stated in Chilean pesos for the second quarter and year to date, ended June 30, 2009. All US dollar figures are based on the exchange rate effective June 30, 2009 (US$1.00 = CLP531.76).

In the second quarter of 2009, CCU’s total revenues increased 3.5%, to CLP158.576 bln (US$298.2 million), as a result of 4.3% higher consolidated volumes (of which 3.1 percentage points are due to organic growth), partially offset by 0.9% lower average prices.

The increase in consolidated volumes is explained by increases beer Chile (3.8%), partially offset by lower volumes in beer Argentina (-1.0%). Despite the higher average prices of beer Chile (4.6%), the consolidated average price was lower due to the foreign exchange effect produced by beer Argentina, which decreased its prices in Chilean pesos terms by 22.1%.

Year to date (YTD), accumulated revenues increased 7.7% amounting to CLP373.397 bln (US$702.2 million).

Q2 2009 gross profit decreased 1.3% to CLP76.456 bln (US$143.8 million), as a result of 8.3% higher cost of goods sold (COGS), which amounted to CLP82.121 bln (US$154.4 million), partially offset by 3.5% higher revenues. The increase in cost of goods sold is explained by ...More Info

Singapore-based Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd (APB) announced on August, 7 an attributable net profit after exceptional items (ANP) of S$51.9 million for the third quarter ended 30 June 2009.

This represents an increase of 39% or S$14.5 million over the same period last year, due to an exceptional gain of S$11.1 million arising from a compensation fee derived from the termination of a business development project.

Versus the same quarter last year, the brewer’s profit before interest, tax and exceptional items (PBIT) grew S$1.9 million or 2% to S$80.6 million; while attributable net profit before exceptional items (APBE) declined by S$1.7 million or 4% to S$40.8 million. Without factoring in translation differences and gestation losses, PBIT and APBE fell organically by 4% and 14% respectively.

Group revenue for the period stood at S$480.9 million, 2% higher than last year.

For the nine-month period ended 30 June 2009, PBIT increased S$5.4 million or 2% to S$253.1 million while APBE slipped marginally by S$1.1 million or 1% to S$131.8 million. Excluding translation differences and gestation losses, PBIT and APBE improved organically by 3% and 1% respectively.

ANP rose S$22.8 million or 18% to S$146.4 million due to an exceptional gain of S$14.6 million. The exceptional ...More Info

2008 was a difficult year for Italy’s brewing industry, with a decrease in both production and - more markedly - in consumption, the latest report by AssoBirra, Italy's' National Beer and Malt Industries Association, said.

In 2008 Italy’s brewing sector saw an interruption in the favourable trend of the previous years, with a small decrease in production and a greater decrease in domestic consumption. According to AssoBirra’s 2008 Annual Report, Italy’s beer consumption in 2008 amounted to 17,766,000 hectolitres, 4% less than in 2007 and equivalent to a per capita consumption of 29.4 litres (compared to 31.1 litres in 2007); while production amounted to 13,273,000 hectolitres, 1.4% less than in 2007.

This is obviously a cause for concern for such an important industry in Italy’s economy, which provides approximately 130,000 jobs and is an important source of revenue for Italy’s agricultural sector, experts commented.

Italian production accounts for 74.7% of domestic consumption. Over 10% of the nation’s beer output is exported.

After 2007, when exports for the first time exceeded the threshold of one million hectolitres, up by 36.7% compared to 2006, in 2008 the trend not only remained stable but also saw a further increase, with an increment of 40.73%.

At the same ...More Info

GlobalMalt, the Germany based malting company, said on August, 5 it will complete the expansion of its malthouse GlobalMalt Polska in Bydgoszcz (Poland) within the fourth quarter of 2009.

Thus the yearly production capacity of this site will be doubled to become 85,000 tons.

The total malting capacity of GlobalMalt will reach yearly more than 400,000 tons of malt once the extension in Poland will be completed. With its seven malt houses in Germany and Poland, an export quota of more than 30 per cent and customers in more than 70 countries all over the world, GlobalMalt is an important supplier of the world’s brewing industry.

The barley harvest is almost complete in southern Europe, the Balkans and France. The total EU barley crop is expected to be between 59 and 60 mln tons vs. 65.6 mln tons last year, industry sources communicated last week.

The minus is due to a much smaller crop in Spain and lower numbers in Southeast Europe as well. France is Europe’s Garden Eden once more, its barley crop is large and of excellent quality. Germany has harvested most of its winter barley, but only a small part of spring barley.

The U.K. expects a crop of 6.7 mln tons, half a million tons more than last year due to a larger spring barley acreage. Harvest has hardly started and is interrupted time and again by rains. Barley in the north of England and certainly in Scotland still needs time for ripening.

Prospects are good in Scandinavia, where the harvest began early August in the south. South Eastern Europe reported late planting; drought in spring and rains before and at harvest time affected winter and spring barley badly in Poland, Czech, Austria and all Balkan countries.

Winter malting barley in the Shanghai region was partly harvested before the rainy season started and is of better than usual quality, experts communicated at the end of July.

Spring barley production will drop sharply, because farmers were disillusioned with the financial results of their production in 2008. According to private production estimates, China’s total spring barley production will drop this year to 1.37 mln tons (- 42.3% as compared to crop 2008). Acreage is estimated to have declined by 54.7% to 420 thousand ha.

Maximum receivals of local malting barley would therefore be: 500,000 tons of winter and 1,370,000 tons of spring barley = 1.87 mln tons vs. needs of at least 3.4 mln tons (basis 6.5 kilos of malt per HL of beer).

China also exported 314,000 tons of malt in 2008 and may ship up to 500,000 tons this year, which increases barley needs by another 625,000 tons. It is fairly safe to assume that China’s barley imports will top the two million tons mark during the crop year of 2009/10.

Imports in Jan/June of this year were 967,000 tons, of which 473,000 from Australia, 310,000 from Canada and 230,000 tons from France.

Climatic conditions have been very detrimental to South American barley crops, industry sources reported late in July.

Argentina planted late and less than hoped for. Plantings are now estimated to amount to 450-500,000 ha. The crop forecast is 1.5 mln tons, much less than hoped for still a few months ago.

Uruguay planted about 150,000 ha and hopes for receivals of half a million tons of malting barley.

Both drought and excessive moisture were reported from Brazil. Total barley plantings of 100,000 ha are disappointingly low.

Mercosur on the whole is running the risk of turning from a large net exporter to a barely self-sufficient region, analysts believe.

As of July 28, Ukraine had harvested 8.27 mln tons of barley, bunker weight, from 65% of this year’s acreage, industry sources reported earlier this month.

Average yield so far is 2.5 tons/ha. Planted barley acreage has been corrected from 4.86 to 5.12 mln ha, therefore both the government and UkrAgroConsult have adjusted their crop estimates upwards, ranging from 10.8 to 11.5 mln tons (last year 12.6).

Earlier reports had mentioned quality problems, mostly on kernel size and protein contents, but exact figures on malting barley receivals and quality are still missing.

Shipments of Ukrainian barley from the Black Sea had been 6.334 mln tons in 2008/09, about 500,000 tons were to be shipped in July, the first month of the new crop year.

E. Denise Baxter, Daniel Cooper, Gillian M. Fisher and Robert E. Muller

Abstract:
J. Inst. Brew. 113(2), 130–134, 2007 A method has been developed for the detection of trace quantities of residual isinglass present in fined beers. Isinglass residues in beer are concentrated by means of an antibody raised using isinglass as an antigen. The separated isinglass is hydrolysed to its constituent acids and quantified by measuring the content of hydroxyproline. The limit of quantification of this method, that is the concentration of isinglass in beer which can be distinguished from background levels of hydroxyproline, is 0.17 mg of isinglass /litre of beer (on an isinglass dry weight basis). This method has been used to quantify the concentration of isinglass residues which could be present in brewery and cask conditioned beers, and also to determine whether there is likely to be stratification of isinglass residues in casks. Key words: Analysis, beer, isinglass. Load full article, 5 pages, 151 kb , PDF file