Tsingtao Brewery, China's best known beer brand, expects its profit for the first three quarters of the year to rise 75 - 85 percent from the same period a year earlier, Reuters reported on October, 10.

The brewer reported a net profit for the first three quarters of 2008 of 699.82 million yuan ($103 million), or 0.5349 yuan per share, based on Chinese accounting standards, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last week.

"During the first quarter to the third quarter of 2009, the company has been striving to explore the domestic market, promote the optimisation and improvement of brand integration and product mix; and strengthen its management in the plants, (and) try to lower its costs, which helped to maintain continuous growth in sales, earnings and profits of the company," it said.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S expect, on average, the company's profit for the full year 2009 to rise about 60 percent to 1.11 billion yuan.

In August, the company, which competes with Heineken, Carlsberg and Kingway Brewery reported a 68 percent year-on-year rise in first-half profit, and projected a recovery in beer consumption in China to continue into the second half.

The global beer market continues to grow despite the dramatic upheaval in the world’s financial markets in 2008, Canadean’s recently published Global Beer Trends Report communicates.

Growth in the global beer market dropped from a respectable 6% in 2007 to less than 2% in 2008, Canadean said. The leading beverage research agency anticipates a further slowdown in 2009 before demand begins to accelerate again in 2010.

The contribution of Asia to the progress of the beer market cannot be understated and the region now accounts for around a third of all beer sales. In 2008, the region managed to record a 5% increase in volumes. China, which accounts for 7 in every 10 litres of beer sold in Asia is the key driver and is helping to sustain the overall worldwide beer market. China was not unscathed and did also see a slowdown last year; as well as the financial downturn, the Chinese market was handicapped by snowstorms in January and February, earthquakes in May, and comparatively cooler summer weather, but the market still expanded by 6% helped in part by the success of the Beijing Olympics.

Latin America can take some of the credit for facilitating the progress of the world wide ...More Info

Anheuser-Busch InBev announced on October, 13 that it has completed the pricing of USD5.5 billion aggregate principal amount of notes, consisting of USD1.5 billion aggregate principal amount of notes due 2012, USD1.25 billion aggregate principal amount of notes due 2015, USD2.25 billion aggregate principal amount of notes due 2020 and USD500 million aggregate principal amount of notes due 2040.

The notes will bear interest at an annual rate of 3.000% for the 2012 notes, 4.125% for the 2015 notes, 5.375% for the 2020 notes and 6.375% for the 2040 year notes and will mature on October 15, 2012 and January 15, 2015, 2020 and 2040, respectively.

The notes will be issued by Anheuser-Busch InBev Worldwide Inc. and will be unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by its parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev NV/SA, which is currently rated Baa2 (Moody’s) and BBB+ (Standard and Poor’s). In addition, certain subsidiaries of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV/SA will provide guarantees in respect of the notes.

The notes are being offered and sold to certain qualified institutional investors in the US pursuant to Rule 144A and outside the US pursuant to Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Felipe Dutra, CFO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, commented “We are pleased ...More Info

Japan's shipments of beer and beer-like drinks in the first nine months of this year dropped 2.4 percent from a year earlier to 345.25 million cases, Kyodo News International reported on October, 12.

The lowest since comparable data became available in 1992 drop is due to unseasonably cool summer weather, industry players said.

Among major brewers, Kirin Brewery Co. captured market leadership with a 37.9 percent share of the domestic market in the nine-month period, overtaking Asahi Breweries Ltd. for the first time in three years for the reporting period.

Kirin's domestic beer shipments during the nine-month period fell 0.1% on year to 130.74 million cases, but the pace of decline was more moderate than the industry-wide decline of 2.4%. Asahi's beer shipments during the period fell 3.0% to 128.77 million cases.

The latest data showed how Kirin succeeded in attracting yen-pinching consumers, who are increasingly switching to a new-style low-priced beer as the weak economy stirs concern over income and employment.

Dubbed "the third beer," this new drink enjoyed a 22% gain in shipments on an industrywide basis during the just-ended period, bucking an otherwise bleak industry picture. Third beers are subject to lower taxation because they are made from ingredients other ...More Info

World’s leading drinks group Diageo Plc said on October, 14 its net sales were down 6% on an organic basis in the three months ended 30 September 2009 against the comparable period.

Net assets were £4,225 million at 30 September 2009, having been £3,936 million at 30 June 2009 reflecting operating profit in the period, some movements on reserves and a small impact from exchange rate movements.

Paul Walsh, Chief Executive of Diageo, commented:

“As we anticipated consumer trends across our markets remain broadly unchanged since the year-end. Therefore net sales in the first quarter of the new financial year have been weak when compared to the strong performance of the first quarter last year. In the first quarter of last year stock levels increased. However this year, stock levels have not risen in the first quarter and in our biggest market, North America, stock levels in our US spirits distributor channel are below those held at 30 June 2009. “The restructuring programme is on track to deliver the forecast benefit of a £120 million reduction in costs year on year. In addition we continued to benefit from efficiencies in marketing spend and media rate deflation.

“The year has started as we thought ...More Info

Buyout firm CVC's talks about its acquisition of part of the world’s No. 1 brewer AB InBev are expected to reach a resolution before the end of the month, The Wall Street Journal reported on October, 12.

According to two sources close to the situation, CVC and AB InBev are expected to agree the terms of the buyout firm's EUR1.4 billion acquisition of the company's Central and Eastern European assets in the next two to three weeks.

Eleven breweries producing a total of 15 million hectolitres of beer a year in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic, Serbia and Montenegro, are part of what has been called a "packaged" deal to be sold as a whole.

Danish Carlsberg has started work on its fifth brewery in India, The Economic Times reported on October, 12.

The $20-million plus brewery will come up in Andhra Pradesh with monthly capacity of half-a-million cases.

The company has acquired 40 acres in Medak district and expects to put the plant on stream within 12 months. In third year of Indian operations, Carlsberg already has four existing breweries in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradaesh and West Bengal with a combined capacity of 8.25 lakh hectolitre or nearly 10 million cases (of 7.8 litre each) annually.

Carlsberg India MD Pradeep Gidwani said the company reported volume sales of 1.5 lakh hectolitre or 2 million cases in 2008.

“We are poised to triple that to 4.5 lakh hectolitre (about 5 million cases) in the current calendar year,” he said refusing to comment on the company’s investment plans in India or confirm the $20-million outlay for Medak plant.

The international brewer operates three brands in India — Tuborg, Palone and the eponymous flagship Carlsberg.

Carlsberg followed Foster’s, SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch into one of the fastest growing beer markets where consumption is projected to rise 15% annually in the medium-term. The Danish brewer’s Indian arm effected small brewery acquisitions ...More Info

Tsingtao Brewery may almost doubling volumes within the next five years, aided by the construction of five new greenfield facilities, Brewers’ Guardian reported on October, 12.

“Tsingtao’s future strategy is no longer, as in the past, to buy up existing breweries but to build new ones all over China,” Tsingtao Group deputy general manager Huang Ke Xing said in an announcement from German supplier Krones, which installed a 60,000bph bottling line at Tsingtao’s new 3 million-hl brewery in Jinan, Northeast China.

The Jinan plant - set to undergo a second phase of development, upping capacity to 6 million hl - will provide the “standard design” for the firm’s future new-build breweries, said Huang.

“Our target is to increase our output within the next three to five years to 80 or 100 million hl. And for this we’re going to be needing at least five new breweries,” he added.

Tsingtao operates approximately 100 filling lines across its 53 breweries in China.

Last year Tsingtao - China’s second largest brewer by volume after SABMiller joint venture CR Snow - produced 54 million hectolitres of beer, up from 50 million in 2007. The firm’s annual turnover is currently at around €1.5 billion.

The surplus of malting barley is larger than ever in the EU, three mln tons of winter and spring malting barley is an average estimate, analysts communicated at the beginning of this month.

Large quantities of six-row and two-row winter barley will end up in the feed sector or in intervention, especially the unpopular variety Cervoise, it is forecast.

Deficit markets inside the EU are mainly the Mediterranean countries, Spain with a deficit of 200,000 tons, Greece 55,000, Italy 75,000, Portugal 100,000 tons.

Poland will need to import 200 – 300,000 tons in spite of fairly good crop results in the north of the country.

EU’s exports to third countries will include 400 – 600,000 tons to China, although EU barley has become less competitive due to higher freight cost and the detrimental Euro/dollar exchange rate.

Turkey and North Africa will buy from the EU, their usual total demand is about 100,000 tons, experts believe.

With a system already clogged with barley, another large crop of high quality barley just harvested and little export demand, both the feed and malting barley markets continue to be suppressed at levels well below a year ago at this time, with hardly any grain being moved, Farm & Ranch Guide reported on October, 9.

“Right now there's not much going on. It's pretty quiet,” said Larry Raap, grain merchandiser for Sun Prairie Grain in Minot, N.D. “If you are looking for any positive news it has to be that there are some bids out there for next year's crop that really aren't that bad when you consider the current wheat prices.”

Anheuser-Busch has offered contracts for the 2010 for $3.90 a bushel with delivery to their plant at West Fargo, N.D, market sources reported.

“If that is any indication, there should be some hope for this year's open market barley down the road when things clear out a little bit,” he said.

However, growers aren't rushing in to sign contracts for the 2010 crop year.

“We haven't signed a whole lot of contracts yet,” he said. “The growers are still undecided. The next cropping year is a long ways away and they might change ...More Info

The CWB announced on October, 9 interim payments will be made for most grades of wheat, durum and designated barley delivered to the CWB during the 2008-09 crop year.

Interim payments represent partial settlement of the proceeds due to farmers from the sale of their grain. Interim payments are issued after July 31 (the crop year runs from August 1 to July 31) and are an earlier payment of proceeds that would otherwise be included in the final payment.

The interim payments for designated barley are C$7 per tonne for two-row and six-row. There are no interim payments for Pool B feed barley. Remaining funds in that pool will be disbursed as final payments.

Total payment to date for select two-row designated barley is C$300.

Controlled by western Canadian farmers, the CWB is the largest wheat and barley marketer in the world. As one of Canada’s biggest exporters, the Winnipeg-based organization sells grain to more than 70 countries and returns all sales revenue, less the costs of marketing, to Prairie farmers.

Glen P. Fox, Linh Nguyen, Jan Bowman, David Poulsen, Andy Inkerman and Robert J. Henry

Abstract:
J. Inst. Brew. 113(1), 87–95, 2007 Barley (Hordeum vulgare) genotypes were sequenced for polymorphism in the hardness genes, these being the three hordoindoline (hin a, hin b1 and hin b2) genes. The variation in haplotype was determined by sequencing for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Polymorphism between each gene was then compared to grain hardness (three methods), malt quality characteristics (hot water extract and friability) and cattle feed quality. Two haplotypes were found in a set of forty barley genotypes. For hin a, two alleles were present, namely hin a1 and hin a2. However, there was no specific hin a allele that was associated with grain hardness, malt and feed quality. Barley has two hin b genes, namely hin b1 and hin b2, and the genotypes tested here had one of two alleles for each gene. However, there were no obvious effects on hardness or quality from either of these hin b alleles. Unlike wheat, where a clear relationship has been demonstrated between a number of SNPs in the wheat hardness genes and quality (soft or hard wheat), there was no such relationship for barley. Despite the wide range in hardness, malt and feed quality, there were only two haplotypes for each of the hin a, hin b1 and hin b2 genes and there was no clear relationship between grain hardness, malt or feed quality. The genotypes used in this study demonstrated that there was a low level of polymorphism in hardness genes in current commercial varieties as well as breeding lines and these polymorphisms had no impact on quality. Key words: Barley, feed, genes, hardness, hordoindolines, malt quality. Load full article, 9 pages, 547 kb , PDF file