SABMiller plc, world’s second-largest brewer after AB InBev, provided on October, 15 an update regarding trading during the six-month period ended 30 September 2009, which is the first half of its financial year.

TOTAL LAGER VOLUMES for the first six months, on an organic basis*, declined by 1% compared to the prior year, reflecting difficult trading conditions across many of its markets, SABMiller reported. During the period, group revenue was supported by price increases taken in the prior year. Financial performance for the half year was in line with the company’s expectations.

In LATIN AMERICA, lager volumes for the first half declined by 1%. Lager volumes in Colombia were 2% below the prior year which benefited from increased sales in September 2008 ahead of a 1 October price increase. However, year to date volumes through to 13 October were approximately level with the prior year. Against strong prior year comparative growth, lager volumes in Peru declined by 2% although SABMiller gained significant market share in a declining market as the effects of a weak economy were compounded by social disruption and transportation strikes during the second quarter. Ecuador continued to perform well with lager volumes growing ...More Info

AB InBev, the Belgium-based world’s largest brewer, announced on October, 15 that it has signed a definitive agreement under which Anheuser-Busch InBev (“ABI”) will sell its Central European operations to CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”), a leading global private equity firm, for an enterprise value of approximately USD2.231 bln and additional rights to a future payment estimated to be as much as USD800 million contingent on CVC’s return on its initial investment.

Under the terms of the agreement, Funds advised by CVC have agreed to acquire ABI’s operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.

CVC has also agreed to brew and/or distribute Stella Artois, Beck’s, Löwenbräu, Hoegaarden, Spaten and Leffe in the above countries under license from ABI. ABI will retain rights to brew and distribute Staropramen in several countries including Ukraine, Russia, the US, Germany and the UK.

In addition, ABI will have a right of first offer to reacquire the business should CVC decide to sell in the future.

Carlos Brito, Chief Executive Officer of Anheuser-Busch InBev, said: “We are pleased to announce this transaction which enables us to exceed our stated commitment to achieve USD7 billion in divestitures, while better focusing our resources towards our core ...More Info

A decline in Russian beer production slowed last month after worsening in August, Bloomberg reported citing figures released by the country’s Federal Statistics Service on October, 16.

Output fell 5.7 percent compared with September, 2008, an improvement on August’s 15.3 percent decline. On a month-on-month basis, production declined 20.6 percent, the figures show.

In the first nine months of the year, Russian beer output declined 7.9 percent to 83.8 million hl, according to the report.

Russian beer sales growth will slow to 4 percent in roubles this year as consumers spend less and switch to cheaper local brands, Renaissance Capital forecast on March 2. Beer consumption in the country will decline 1.5 percent in 2009 after reaching “saturation” at 81 litres per capita last year, according to the Moscow-based investment bank.

Russia’s No. 1 brewer Baltika Breweries announced on October, 16 that it will call an Extraordinary General Shareholders Meeting in order to take a decision on a contract for the licensed production of Baltika brands at the Derbes Brewery facilities in Kazakhstan.

Derbes, like Baltika Breweries, is part of the Carlsberg Group.

The license agreement entails the integration of Baltika and Derbes’ operational processes in marketing, distribution, and sales. This move marks an important step forward in the Carlsberg Group business strategy, which is aimed towards integration and increased efficiency, the company said.

Baltika Breweries is the largest FMCG producer in Russia; since 1996 it has been the leader of the Russian beer market. In terms of sales, the Baltika brand holds first place in Europe (Canadean, Euromonitor). The company has breweries in 10 Russian cities and 1 brewery in Azerbaijan, and boasts a large brand portfolio. Baltika Breweries is the leading exporter of Russian beer: Baltika products are available in more than 50 countries make up 70% of all Russian beer exports.

Derbes Brewery is a Carlsberg Group company and one of the leaders on the Kazakhstan beer market. The company’s brand portfolio includes Derbes, Irbis, Alma-Ata, Tuborg, and Corona Extra.

The world barley crop forecast is increased by 2.3 mln tons, to 145.1 mln, IGC communicated in its September Grain Market Report.

While production prospects have improved in the EU, Russia, Ukraine, Canada and Australia, the total forecast remains 6% below last year’s bumper outturn.

The EU crop estimate is lifted by 0.9 mln tons, to 61.2 mln (65.2 mln), 4.0 mln below last year’s record. Based on harvest results so far, a larger proportion of spring barley is of malting quality compared to last year.

Dry and warm weather speeded harvest activities in Russia where, due to higher than anticipated yields, the crop forecast is increased by 0.5 mln tons, to 17.5 mln (23.1 mln). Production in Ukraine is also placed 0.5 mln tons higher than in August, at 11.5 mln (12.6 mln). Drier weather accelerated harvesting in Kazakhstan but, with crop development about two weeks behind normal, there were concerns about possible frost damage in some areas. The crop forecast is trimmed by a further 0.2 mln tons, to 1.8 mln (1.9 mln).

In Canada, high temperatures assisted crop ripening and harvesting in the Prairies, but with some interruptions by rains in Manitoba and reports of local frosts in Alberta. While ...More Info

French analytical firm Strategie Grains expects European Union’s 2010 – 2011 barley plantings to fall by between 3% and 5% on the year, its monthly report revealed on October, 14.

The estimate of barley production and yields remained in line with September figures of 61.5 million tons and 4.4 t/ha respectively.

The important volume of this year’s barley crop and the weak demand registered at the moment on the EU markets may lead to the fact that more than one million tonnes of barley will go into intervention this season, Reuters cited FranceAgriMer’s estimate on October, 14.

“We are ready to buy and stock,” Christian Vanier, head of one of FranceAgriMer’s departments, said.

Intervention permits farmers to sell their barley into public stocks as the prices go below the minimum guaranteed level (101.3 EUR/tonne base October), which is the case at the moment in France as well as in other EU nations.

EU’s total barley intervention may exceed the level of 3 mln tonnes, FranceAgriMer said.

According to it, France may report at the end of this campaign a barley stock twice as large as last year’s, about 3.36 mln tonnes.

Market sources estimated France’s potential offers of barley into intervention at 1 – 1.5 mln tonnes this season.

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