• Heineken Italia and Interbrew have reached agreement to terminate, by common consent, the license and distribution agreements which gave Heineken Italia the right to produce and/or distribute Interbrew's Belgian brands. Click here
  
  
• Czech brewery Budejovicky Budvar, the owner of the Budvar beer brand, has reported a decrease of 160 million crowns of its gross profit for 2002, compared to 2001. Click here
  
  
• Estonia consumed 70.1 litres of beer per capita in 2002 – 3 litres more than in 2001, according to BNS Union of beer producers in Estonia. Click here
  
  
• Molson Inc., Canada's oldest and largest brewer, said on January 29 that higher beer sales in Brazil helped push third-quarter earnings up by 49% but said competition was stiffer at home. Click here
  
  
• AmBev, the Brazilian brewer, the fourth largest brewing force in the world, is aiming to build a brewery in Guatemala by investing USD 50 million. Click here

More news are available on site www.e-malt.com  

• As speculations heat up on which companies may bid for the Austrian brewer BBAG, fears that Interbrew will follow its old habits of overpaying for acquisitions ...more info



• The Brazilian group Schincariol completes its program of establishment of 7 breweries in the south of Brazil. To the unit open last September to Caxias, and which already produced 500 000 hl, will be ...more info



• Fujian Huiquan Brewery Group, The Chinese brewer, is expecting to raise CNY452.56m ($54.53m) through the issue of 63m A-shares in an initial public offering, scheduled for February 11, 2003 ...more info



• Hartwall, the first largest Finnish drinks group, has registered a sales rise of 3% up to 387.5 million litres of beverages in 2002, owning 45% stake of the brewing and soft drinks market, Finnish Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry reported on January 24...more info



• San Miguel Brewery Hong Kong Ltd., a subsidiary of the Philippine San Miguel drinks group, is aiming to purchase Dragon Beer trademark and other beer brands from the Shunde County Brewery...more info



• The Dutch brewer Heineken Holding reported on January 27: “The first transactions in options on shares in Heineken Holding took place today on the Euronext exchange. Heineken Holding options are ...more info



• The Belgian brewing force, Interbrew, has reached an agreement with the Unions on the optimisation of its industrial network in Western Europe, further to the announcement of 9 September 2002....more info



• Carlsberg Breweries A/S has appointed Jesper Bjørn Madsen as Senior Vice President of Carlsberg Breweries A/S with primary responsibility for the Asian activities as of 1 August 2003, the company reported on January 29, 2003...more info



• Baltic Beverages Holding AB (BBH), specially created at the beginning of nineties for the work in Eastern Europe market, had a positive influence on the 2002-results of its European parents...more info



• The investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has put a target of €37 for the shares of Dutch brewer Heineken raising its rating on the company from "sell" to "hold"...more info



• Warsteiner Italia will distribute, sell and market the Grolsch brand in Italy, according to the agreement between the Dutch brewer Royal Grolsch and Germany's Warsteiner Brauerei about extending their strategic alliance...more info



• As Australia faces a boost of barley prices because of the drought in many part of the country, beer prices will increase at least 5% this year. Barley costs are expected to push up to 40% this year after...more info




1. Industry news

Heineken Italia and Interbrew have reached agreement to terminate, by common consent, the license and distribution agreements which gave Heineken Italia the right to produce and/or distribute Interbrew's Belgian brands and the Labatt range in the Italian market since 1995, Interbrew reported on January 31, 2003. As a result, Interbrew will regain full control of its premium and speciality brands and offer its comprehensive brand portfolio in the Italian market as of 1 March 2003, while Heineken Italia will launch its own exclusive range of specialty beers for the Italian market. “This transaction concerns the return of all rights to Interbrew's Belgian brands, as well as the Labatt range, in the Italian market, for a total consideration of 19.5 Mio EUR. It also further strengthens Interbrew, The Worlds Local Brewer©, as the number 1 importer of beers in Italy and allows the company to capture the full margin of its business in the Italian market... more info

Czech brewery Budejovicky Budvar, the owner of the Budvar beer brand, has reported a decrease of 160 million crowns of its gross profit for 2002, compared to 2001. According to the preliminary results the gross profit for 2002 came to 280 million Czech crowns (US$9.7 million), Jiri Bocek, the company’s director reported in a statement. The company also had registered a decrease in sales of 100,000 hl, selling 1.2 million hl of beer in 2002. Company’s exports decreased by 2.5% in 2002, compared to the previous year. The drop in sales is due to the flood in August 2002, the company said.

Estonia consumed 70.1 litres of beer per capita in 2002 – 3 litres more than in 2001, according to BNS Union of beer producers in Estonia. The Union reported that in 2001 the average consumption of beer per capita was 67.1 l. Estonian sales volumes of beer in 2002 increased in average by 4.47%. The leader on the beer market in Estonia is Saku brewery, which produced about 46.67% of all sold beer in 2002.

Molson Inc., Canada's oldest and largest brewer, said on January 29 that higher beer sales in Brazil helped push third-quarter earnings up by 49% but said competition was stiffer at home. Molson, which became the world's 13th largest brewer with the purchase of Brazil's Kaiser brewery in March 2002, said it earned C$67.0 million ($44.1 million), or 52 Canadian cents a share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up from C$45.0 million, or 37 Canadian cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Molson said it was slowly reaping profits from the Brazilian acquisition but said it lost market share in Canada. "Operationally, the share performance in Canada is lower than expected. However, plans are in place to address this weakness and to strengthen our brand portfolios and market share as we move towards next summer and the years ahead," O'Neill said... more info

AmBev, the Brazilian brewer, the fourth largest brewing force in the world, is aiming to build a brewery in Guatemala by investing USD 50 million, David Almeida, the AmBev’s representative in Guatemala reported. He said: “The new project would directly create 680 jobs and indirectly a further 1,800.” The project follows the desire of the company to expand in Central America and the Caribbean. The best-selling beer brand in Guatemala is the Cerveza Gallo brand, produced by Cerveceria Centroamericana, the market leader in Guatemala.



2. Theoretical malt prices.




EURO = USD 1.0815 January 31, 2003  Crop year  2002  Parity  FOB Antwerp  Position  Oct 2002-Sept 2003  Conditioning  Bulk   In bags  Bulk containers  In bags in containers  Malting barley variety  EURO  USD  EURO  USD  EURO  USD  EURO  USD  2RS  Prisma  297.50  322.00  313.00  338.50  310.00  335.50  319.50  345.50  2RS  Scarlett  299.00  323.50  314.50  340.00  311.50  336.50  320.50  346.50  2RS  Aspen  296.50  320.50  312.00  337.50  309.00  334.00  318.00  344.00  2RS  Optic  296.50  320.50  312.00  337.50  309.00  334.00  318.00  344.00  2RS  Nevada  nq  nq  nq  nq  nq  nq  nq  nq  2RS  Astoria  293.00  316.50  308.50  333.50  305.50  330.00  314.50  340.00  2RS  Cork   293.00  316.50  308.50  333.50  305.50  330.00  314.50  340.00  2RS   Average price  296.50  320.50  311.50  337.00  308.50  333.50  317.50  343.50  2RS  FAQ  291.50  315.50  307.00  332.00  304.00  328.50  313.00  338.50  6RW  Esterel   270.50  292.50  285.50  309.00  282.50  305.50  292.00  315.50




Theoretical malt prices for crop 2003 are available on site www.e-malt.com

3. Malting barley prices. French barley prices. Nominal prices.






EURO = USD 1.0815 January 31, 2003
Crop year		2002		2003
Parity		FOB Creil		FOB Creil
Position		July 2002		July 2003
Type	Variety	EURO	USD	EURO	USD
2RS	Scarlett	145.00	157.00	146.00	158.00
2RS	Prisma	144.00	156.00	nq	nq
2RS	Prestige	nq	nq	145.00	157.00
2RS	Aspen	143.00	155.00	144.00	156.00
2RS	Optic	143.00	155.00	144.00	156.00
2RS	Nevada	nq	nq	nq	nq
2RS	Astoria	140.00	151.50	142.00	153.50
2RS	Cork	140.00	151.50	142.00	153.50
6RW	Esterel	125.00	135.50	123.00	133.50


nq - Not quoted
Prices for Danish and UK malting barley are available on site www.e-malt.com

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