AB InBev’ the world’s largest brewer, said on March, 4 it gained or maintained market share in markets representing approximately 70% of its total beer volumes.

However, the brewer’s total beer volumes decreased by 1.1% in the full year to 364.54 mln hl despite a slight increase of 0.7% in the last quarter. Own beer volumes grew 0.8% in Q4 and decreased by 0.8% to 358.78 mln hl in the full year 2009.

FY09 Focus Brand volumes grew 1.9% led by Antarctica, Brahma and Skol in Brazil, the Bud Light family in Canada, Budweiser and Harbin in China, and Stella Artois in the UK. In 4Q09 Focus Brand volumes grew 2.6%.

Revenue rose 2.5% to USD36.76 bln in FY09 and 5.1% to USD9.30 bln in 4Q09, with revenue per hl up 4.5% in FY09 and 4.1% in 4Q09.

FY09 EBITDA grew 16.6% to USD13.037 bln, with EBITDA margin of 35.5% compared to 30.8% in FY08 on a combined basis, up 415 bp organically. 4Q09 EBITDA rose 11.5% to USD3.105 bln with a margin of 33.4%, an organic improvement of 179 bp.

Normalized profit attributable to equity holders of AB InBev of USD3.927 bln in FY09 compares with USD2.511 bln in FY08 on a reported basis, ...More Info

Companhia de Bebidas das Américas (AmBev), AB InBev’s Brazilian division, announced on March, 4 its results for the 2009 fourth quarter (Q4 2009).

The company’s Q4 net sales grew 13.9% to 6.78 bln reias driven by volume growth in Brazil and HILA-Ex (Hispanic Latin America - Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay) as well as price increases across all its regions, which drove net revenue/hl growth of 7.3% in the period.

Full year 2009 net sales increased by 11.1% organically to 23.19 bln reias.

Organic volume growth of 6.1% (to 47.03 bln reias) in the fourth quarter was driven by a 11.6% volume growth in Brazil and 11% of volume growth in HILA-Ex, which was partly offset by volume contraction of 6.5% in Latin America South and 5.6% in Canada.

Beer volumes grew organically 7.1% to 33.66 bln reias in Q4, and by 5.9% to 110.69 bln reias in the full year.

Normalized EBITDA reached 3.021 bln reias in Q4 2009, an organic growth of +9.1%, while margin contracted 200bps in the period to 44.6%, mainly due to higher accruals for variable compensation. Excluding these effects, normalized EBITDA would have grown by 13% and margins would have dropped by 40 bps, AmBev said. Operating cash ...More Info

Beijing Yanjing Brewery Co Ltd has announced a net profit of RMB 627.49 million for 2009, 36.03% more than in 2008, China Knowledge reported on March, 4.

The brewer’s operating revenue surged 15.08% from a year earlier, hitting RMB9.49 billion.

Earnings per share were RMB0.52 and a dividend of RMB0.16 per share will be paid, the company said.

In 2009, the brewery's sales volume increased 12% year on year, whereas the industry's sales volume grew only 7% year on year on average.

In Beijing, the beer producer's sales volume increased 13% year on year, and its market share was around 85%. During the period from July to December last year, the firm's average output reached nearly 5,000 kiloliters per day, and the highest daily output was 6,300 kiloliters.

In China's market excluding Beijing, brewery sales were 3.24 million kL, up 12% year on year. The firm sold 860,000 kL in Guangxi Zhuang Nationality Autonomous Region, 490,000 kL in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 310,000 kL in Guangdong Province and 190,000 kL in Hunan Province.

Beijing Yanjing Brewery plans to issue up to RMB1.2 billion worth of convertible bonds with interest rates ranging from 0.5% to 2%.

The proceeds from the issuance will be used to ...More Info

Kirin Holdings wants to raise its 48 percent stake in San Miguel Brewery in the Philippines, possibly as high as 100 percent, to help fuel its overseas expansion, the incoming president of the Japanese brewer was quoted as saying by Reuters on March, 5.

“We’d like to take a majority” of San Miguel Brewery Inc. from the current 48 percent if its parent is willing to sell, Senji Miyake, who will become Kirin’s president this month, said in an interview.

“We’re not in hurry,” he said, declining to say whether they’re in talks.

Japanese beverage makers are accelerating overseas expansion to tap wider margins and offset falling domestic beer sales. The brewer of Kirin Lager and Ichiban Shibori has spent about $7 billion on overseas purchases in the past three years, including taking Lion Nathan Ltd. private. Kirin on Feb. 8 ended talks to buy Suntory, balking at the $10 billion asking price.

“Kirin may now get going again and begin growing again, and most of the growth will come from outside Japan,” said Edwin Merner, president of Atlantis Investment in Tokyo, which manages about $3 billion in assets. Japan’s largest beverage company will focus expansion in Asian countries with growing populations and rising ...More Info

Russia’s beer output dropped drastically in 2009 and will drop further this year, analysts communicated at the beginning of this month.

The nation’s beer consumption fell from 115.3 mln hl in 2008 to 103.5 mln hl in 2009 and is forecast to reach only 94 mln hl in 2010.

Both the reduction of output and the sharply reduced malt usage in beer production reduced malt needs by 50 % (as per a Russian industry expert).

Russia’s malting capacity is 1.889 mln tons, of which 47 % or 884,000 tons belongs to breweries. The forecast had been for a malt usage of 1.926 mln tons in 2009. Instead the usage was approx. one million tons, and stocks of half a million tons were piled up, which necessitate a further slowdown of production during this year, experts said.

IGC’s latest statistics demonstrate the slowdown of export malt shipments during the present campaign.

Shipments were in July/November from Argentina 205,000 tons (last year 198,000), from the EU 726,000 (1,000,000), in July /December from Australia 357,000 tons (362,000), from Canada 371,000 tons (420,000) and from the U.S. 267,000 tons (317,000).

With farmers all over the EU totally disillusioned with the performance of malting barley markets, plantings will be sharply reduced this spring and estimates of the acreage vary greatly, industry experts communicated earlier this month.

The guesstimates for the four key malting barley countries of the EU are as follows:

Denmark 410,000 ha (last year 449,000), France 460,000 (553,000), Germany 370,000 (427,000), U.K. 490,000 (751,000).

Other countries give following estimates: Austria and Sweden 15% less spring barley, Czech Republic less spring barley (no figure given), Poland less 20% and Finland less 30-40% spring malting barley.

If true, it would result in a 20% reduction of malting barley plantings in the EU, experts summed up.

Spring planting will take place much later this year than in 2009 after a long winter with frost and snow, followed by heavy storms in Western Europe during the past days. So far only the Mediterranean countries could plant much of their spring grains, France is reported to have seeded 3% of its total intentions, in the Charente along the Atlantic coast. It is possible that also the barley fields are completely destroyed by the devastating floods of last weekend.

Sales of certified seed and fertilizer are very disappointing; ...More Info

Most private estimates give even lower barley crop figures than ABARE’s latest estimate of a disappointing barley crop in Australia, an analysts’ note said on March, 1.

According to industry sources, malting barley constitutes a low share of the total barley crop this year. The crop was affected by heat and dryness in Queensland and NSW, by a heat wave followed by heavy rain falls just before and during harvest in Victoria and South Australia, and mixed conditions in Western Australia, less good than last year.

ABARE’s official estimate of Australia’s barley production is set at 8.05 mln tonnes for 2009-10, whereas private estimates do not exceed 7.95 tonnes. The estimates of malting barley share vary between 1.61 to 1.97 mln tonnes, it is reported.

Quality problems are screenings, high and low protein, sprouted grains, it is reported.

It is reported that 600,000 tons of malting barley were already sold to China, and there is almost no further export surplus available. Bids in the country range from US$ 215,- to 235,- FOB seaport equivalent, but any large parcel would cost US$ 240,- equal 270,-/275,- CFR Chinese ports. Most sellers are withdrawn, anyway. Farmers withhold barley, adding to the tightness of markets, where some ...More Info

Argentina’s barley crop is estimated by both USDA and IGC at 1.6 mln tonnes. Though the quality is poor as drought has affected screenings and protein in most growing regions, the Argentinean malting and brewing industry will take as much as possible local barley, being tolerant on quality specifications. Estimates are that 400,000 tons can be exported.

Brazil needs imports of about 550,000 tons. Uruguay is self-sufficient, but has no export surplus. Import demand of Colombia/Ecuador/Peru is about 350,000 tons. Therefore South American imports are projected of half a million tons from Canada and the EU.

Chile reports 60% of its harvest is in the bins, quality so far good, it is possible that the country will need no imports.

Efforts to reintroduce the production of malting barley in Colombia and Peru have seen little success so far, industry sources reported.

A. DEBOURG, M. FONTEYN, F. HARMEGNIES AND L. VAN NEDERVELDE

ABSTRACT Several conventional malt analyses are done to measure parameters which could influence mash filtration. Nevertheless, they are difficult to integrate in a system allowing predicting processability and brewhouse performances of the malt. In this collaborative study a method developed by Meura for measuring filterability coefficient in a laboratory scale filtration has been tested and results were compared to malt behaviour in industrial mash filter process. Results were correlated to some malt analytical characteristics.
Cerevisia, 34 (3) 2009 http://www.cerevisia.eu