UK-based brewing giant SABMiller Plc expects volumes in Asia and Africa to show high single-digit percentage growth in the medium term, Dow Jones reported on September, 22.

Asia and Africa region Finance Director Jonathan Kirby said volume growth will be driven by Asia, with growth in the low double digits, adding that Africa volumes will grow in the upper single digits.

Kirby, speaking at the Africa and Asia quarterly divisional seminar in London, said profit margin growth for the region will depend on the geographic mix of revenue, with margin growth in Africa seen flat and margin in Asia expected to grow by 60 to 80 basis points a year from 2011 onward.

"Margin in Asia will be flat in the year ahead as a result of some disputes with Indian state authorities affecting volumes and pricing," he said.

InBev Romania, the third largest beer producer on the Romanian market, will suspend operations at its brewery in Blaj over the next six months, Standard reported on September, 22.

The Blaj-based plant produced over one hectolitres of beer last year, accounting for around 30% of the company's overall production, according to analysts’ estimates. The 110 workers of the plant, mainly those in production, will take temporary layoff.

“The main reasons of this decision are to avoid permanent layoff, to optimize supply-demand ratio as well as to keep InBev Romania’s competitive edge in the market. The measure came as a response to the weaker demand due to the economic context and seasonality. In this period, we will continue the beer production at our plant in Ploiesti”, the local subsidiary of the Belgian brewing giant AB InBev said.

The malting plant will remain operational and to minimize the effects over other departments, the employees will take unpaid leave by rotation, according to InBev.

The fully-owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev posted sales down to €173.5 mln in 2008, from €188.5 mln a year earlier. The brewer’s net profit plummeted 53% yoy in 2008, down to €15 mln.

This is the first major factory closure to be announced by ...More Info

Drinks group Diageo PLC continues to experience difficult trading conditions in Europe, with no material improvement in trading since June, the European division's president was quoted as saying by Dow Jones on September, 12.

"We've not seen any material changes in our trading since end of the financial year," said Andrew Morgan, President of Diageo Europe, on a conference call with analysts on September, 21.

Diageo Europe suffered a 5% drop in organic sales for the year to June 30, after a sharp downturn in the second half of the year, particularly in Spain, Ireland and Eastern Europe.

Morgan said trading would be difficult for the first six months of the current financial year, with comparative figures easing as the company enters the second half.

He said the weaker comparative figures in the second half of the year should result in some growth in sales for the division.

Morgan said he expected marketing spend in the region to be at about the same level this year as last year, or possibly a little bit lower as the company takes advantage of cheaper advertising costs.

In the year to June 2009, marketing spend in Europe declined 14% on an organic basis.

Morgan said the ...More Info

SABMiller’s Indian operations suffered a loss of Rs64.88 crore as its growth has been crippled due to absence in several key markets in the country, The Economic Times communicated on September, 21.

The maker of such beer brands as Haywards 5000, Royal Challenge and Foster’s had a a market share of 34% in FY09, despite a no-supply situation in India’s largest market Andhra Pradesh and without full participation in Tamil Nadu.

SABMiller, which is India’s second-biggest brewer by market share after United Breweries, had reported profits of Rs 34.48 crore in FY08. According to SABMiller India’s annual report 2009, the company’s turnover increased 23% in FY09 to Rs 2,172 crore from Rs 1,766 crore in the comparable period.

The company attributed the losses to a one-time impact of Rs 34 crore caused by a change in container accounting policy coupled with a 182% rise in interest costs on increase in borrowings and interest rates as well as cost pressures due to surging commodity prices and glass bottles.

Even as increased depreciation charged to the P&L on account of a newly-commissioned brewery in Haryana last fiscal impacted the company, state regulations, which restricted it from meeting inflated input costs through price hikes, was another ...More Info

The beer industry posted its third consecutive year of increased volume last year climbing 0.5%. However, the landscape of the industry changed dramatically and results for the first half of 2009 have not been as positive as originally forecast. The growth of the distilled spirits and wine industries continues to take market share away from beer industry, albeit at a slower rate in 2008 than previously, the Beverage Information Group's recently released 2009 Beer Handbook reads.

According the research, light beers' popularity hasn't waned. In fact, it has grown to become the largest beer segment controlling more than half of the beer market. Consumers continue to consume more light/low-carbohydrate beer offerings. Last year's successful launch of Bud Light Lime helped the Light beer segment gain 2.1%.

Ice and popular segments have also gained volume. These categories benefited from consumers trading down in the recessionary environment with ice gaining 4.0% and popular beers seeing its first upturn in more than 20 years with a 0.3% gain to 232.6 million cases. Another direct result of trading down can be seen in the decline of imported beer, which lost 5.4% to 386.1 million cases last year.

"Lights have gained ground continuously ...More Info

Beijing Yanjing Brewery, one of China’s leading beer manufacturers, will invest additional CNY1.2 billion to expand production lines in the second half of the year, Nbd.com reported on September, 18.

The company is expected to produce and sell sell more than 4.70 million tons of beer the entire year 2009. Moreover, the Shanghai-listed brewer is confident of fulfilling the plan of selling 5 million tons next year.

Beijing Yanjing Brewery Co is an indirect subsidiary of conglomerate Beijing Enterprise Holdings Ltd.

San Miguel Corp. expects to raise $600 million from the sale of a minority stake in its food, hard liquor, international beer and packaging units which, in turn, will be channelled into new ventures outside its traditional businesses, Philippine Daily Inquirer posted on September, 18.

The conglomerate is also negotiating with banks to tap a $600-million three-year loan facility to fund its ongoing diversification, the company disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange last week.

The sale of a portion of the company’s equity stake in San Miguel Pure Foods Co. Inc., Ginebra San Miguel Inc. as well as its packaging and international beer operations may collectively generate $600 million, company spokesman Ferdinand Constantino said.

SMC is paring down its stake in various subsidiaries—the most recent was when it brought Japan’s Kirin Holding Co. Ltd. into flagship San Miguel Brewery Inc.—to strengthen these units’ operations on a stand-alone basis as well as to raise money to venture into higher-yielding businesses.

August was a month of a further improved crop outlook, mainly in Europe and the U.S., and disappointing markets, barley industry analysts summed up early in September.

The total world grain crop is estimated at 1.748 bln tons, only 44 mln tons less than the record of 2008. The barley crop of 142.8 mln tons is 7 % below last year’s figure, due to smaller crops in important producer countries, e.g. Canada, Russia and Spain.

Markets of feed and malting barley had not been good for farmers in the past crop year, and are even less rewarding now. It must be anticipated therefore that the barley acreage will shrink further in 2009, and this time by a big margin.

Import demand for feed barley in the Middle East and in North Africa will be lower than in past years, all experts agree.

AWB, Australia’s former monopoly wheat exporter, is negotiating a new partner for its Australian grain operations and the sale of AWB Geneva, ABC reported on September, 23.

The company says its trade in crops like barley and sorghum have increased substantially since deregulation and a partner could bring expertise in non-wheat grains.

AWB managing director Gordon Davis says a partner could also be beneficial with the Australian industry expected to see more consolidation.

But he's refused to name the global rival involved in the talks.

"These are preliminary discussions, but it's a direction we are committed to and we'll be working quite hard over the coming months to bring a transaction to fruition," he says.

Speaking as the company announced it would raise A$459 million through the issue of discounted shares, Mr Davis said the sale of AWB Geneva was not performance-related and continued the strategy of winding back overseas operations.

"It's really being driven by a strategic realisation that as a relatively mid-sized Australian company, it's really not realistic for us to continue to grow that business at the rate which it deserves."

AWB will issue new shares at A$1 to fund a reduction in debt.

Many portions of North Dakota are harvesting the largest crop of barley seen in many years and more and more analysts reiterate that large crops nationally and internationally can create financial challenges from falling market prices, Inforum reported on September, 18.

The challenge is to develop a marketing strategy that will generate a favorable net price, meet cash flow needs and limit risk exposure. This is not a small task given the volatile markets during the past two years and the forecasts for large U.S. and world production.

The initial yield and quality reports for North Dakota barley are excellent because of very good yields, high percent of plump kernels and low protein. A quick survey of local elevator bids across the state shows that both feed and malt barley are priced at the same levels and small loan deficiency payments (LDP) still are available.

The large volume of high-quality barley has shut down the malting barley marketing channels temporarily and the feed barley market has not been able to absorb the extra bushels. Spot market prices have fallen dramatically. This has compelled farmers to store barley until buyers become more active. The short- term strategy many farmers are using is to store ...More Info

According to the data of the Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture the total harvested hop acreage in the Czech Republic was 5307 ha, which means a decrease of 28 ha compared to the year 2008, the Hop Growers Union of the Czech Republic announced on September, 4.

Variety Saaz remains the main variety grown on the 87.18 % of the total acreage, the Union said.

New hop plants were planted on the acreage of 257 ha, i.e. 4.84 %, mostly in the Saaz hop growing region (199 ha), Auscha hop growing region (33 ha) and Tirschitz hop growing region (25 ha).

An early springtime and high temperatures influenced fast hop growth immediately after their pruning. The next weather development was optimal regarding both temperatures and precipitation. No big problems occurred during the springtime works and labour force was easier to provide than in the last year. The prices of fertilizers and expenses for labour force mostly increased.

During the vegetation period strong wind, rain and hail-storms affected the hop growing areas. The hops were damaged most by heavy hail-storms on the acreage over 400 ha in May, further by strong wind at the end of July when 109 ha of hops ...More Info

Stefan Kwiatkowski, Ursula Thielen, Phyllis Glenney and Colm Moran

Abstract:
J. Inst. Brew. 115(2), 151–158, 2009 Much research has been carried out over the years examining cell wall glucans from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and this study further examines aspects of the binding of (1›4)-alpha-D-glucan in the yeast cell wall, using a number of isolation techniques as well as monoclonal antibodies able to recognize a mixed (1›4)- alpha-D-glucan/(1›6)-beta-D-glucan. Extraction of purified glucan, from S. cerevisiae cell wall, with 0.1N HCl, at 80°C for 6 h, released into the solution (1›4)-alpha-D-glucan and (1›6)-beta-Dglucan as the major polysaccharides, along with an insoluble pellet highly enriched in (1›3)-beta-D-glucan. The released (1›4)-alpha-D-glucan was composed of a high molecular size >100 kDa fraction (7.2% w/w) and a medium 5–50 kDa polysaccharide (10.2% w/w), with the (1›4)-alpha-D-glucan covalently bound to the (1›6)-betta-D-glucan. The average molar ratio of the ?:ß glucan was 47: 53 in this mixed polysaccharide. The structure of this polysaccharide was different from the structure of plant starch or animal glycogen as monoclonal antibodies specific to yeast (1›4)-alpha-D-glucan/(1›6)-beta-D-glucan did not recognize the plant starch or animal glycogen standards. Key words: (1›4)-alpha-D-glucan, 1›6)-beta-D-glucan, glucan specific antibodies, NMR, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, yeast cell wall. Abbreviations: BSA – Bovine Serum Albumin; D2O – deuterium oxide (heavy water), d.w. – dry weight; DI – deionised water; GEM – Glucan Enriched Material, HRP – Horse Radish Peroxidase. Load full article, 8 pages, 496 kb , PDF file