E-Malt.com Flash 11a. March 14

USA: Coors Brewing Company, the U.S. subsidiary of Molson Coors Brewing Company, announced on March 14 that Frits van Paasschen has been selected as president and chief executive officer of the subsidiary. Van Paasschen will be responsible for leading all aspects of the company's U.S. operations and performance, reporting directly to Leo Kiely, chief executive officer of Molson Coors Brewing Company. Van Paasschen brings more than 20 years of experience in finance, consumer products marketing, retail development, supply chain management and human resources to Coors. Prior to joining Coors, van Paasschen worked for Nike, Inc., serving most recently as corporate vice president and general manager of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In this position, he increased revenues from just over $2.5 billion to nearly $4 billion in just four years. "Frits is a great addition to our team, bringing with him tremendous depth and breadth of skills and experience. In addition, his leadership style fits with our people and our culture," said Leo Kiely, chief executive officer of Molson Coors Brewing Company. "Frits is joining us at a great time. With the Molson Coors merger now complete, we are entering an exciting time for the company, and I can confidently hand off the role of U.S. president to Frits and dedicate my full energy to my new role as CEO of Molson Coors." Among his other achievements at Nike, van Paasschen also established the company's presence in Africa and Brazil. He launched the company's franchise store concept, oversaw the rollout of Nike's supply chain platform and championed the company's corporate responsibility initiatives, including a commitment to World Wildlife Fund for greenhouse gas, supporting local foundations to provide youth with greater access to sports and encouraging employees to participate in volunteer programs. Prior to joining Nike, van Paasschen served as the vice president of finance and planning for Disney Consumer Products. Van Paasschen graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics and biology from Amherst College in Massachusetts and earned a master's degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. Van Paasschen's first day in the office will be March 29. Coors Brewing Company, a subsidiary of Molson Coors Brewing Company, is the third largest brewer in the U.S. Its brands include: Coors Light, Molson Canadian, Coors, Aspen Edge, Killian's Irish Red, Keystone, Blue Moon, Coors NA and Zima XXX.

United Kingdom: From Sunday, excise duty on a pint of beer is to rise by 1p. The Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) has criticised the 1 pence increase in beer duty announced by Gordon Brown in today's Budget (March 16, 2005), according to Manchester Online. The consumer group said it was a "double blow for beer drinkers" as it comes just weeks after both the Coors and Carlsberg breweries and pub chain Enterprise Inns raised their prices. Brown put 1 pence on a pint of beer, 4 pence on a bottle of wine and held steady the rates on spirits, cider and sparkling wine. Duty on cigarettes rose 4 pence a packet. Mike Benner, chief executive of CAMRA, said: "This is a disappointing Budget for beer drinkers. A penny may not sound like much, but today's tax rise follows recent wholesale beer price rises by some brewers. "Some pubs will now be charging as much as 10 pence a pint more than they were only a month ago. At a time when beer consumption is falling and pub-going is in decline this is a potentially devastating outcome for consumers and hard-working licensees." CAMRA had wanted cut beer duty to be frozen or cut, believing this would reduce the amount of beer being smuggled into the country. "A penny may not sound like much, but today's tax rise follows recent wholesale beer price rises by some brewers. Some pubs will now be charging as much as 10 pence a pint more than they were only a month ago. At a time when beer consumption is falling and pub-going is in decline this is a potentially devastating outcome for consumers and hard-working licensees." Mr Benner added: "A tax rise is a flawed strategy which will cost jobs, increase smuggling and uncontrolled drinking and leave responsible beer drinkers out of pocket." Gordon Brown's decision to raise beer duty was also attacked by Britain's brewers. "It is very disappointing that Gordon Brown continues to choose a tax strategy that favours imported Australian chardonnay over home produced British beer", said Mark Hastings, director of communications at the British Beer & Pub Association.

Russia: UK brewer Scottish & Newcastle announced on March 15 that Russian leading brewery, Baltika, a part of S&N's eastern European joint venture, increased its sales 20 % in the first two months of this year...more info

Sweden: The Swedish government proposed on March 16 to cut taxes on beer and wine by 30 % next year. Currently, half a liter of beer is taxed by almost 4 kronor (euro0.44; US$0.60)...more info

Kenya: Dutch brewer, Heineken N/V, launched formally it famous beer brand in East Africa on March 14. The beer will be distributed and sold by Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) following the signing of an exclusive partnership deal...more info

Czech Republic: Czech beer exports increased by about 24% last year, Czech breweries association posted on March 16. More than 14 % of the country's production of beer was exported last year, with Pilsner Urquel, Staropramen and Budweiser being the most exported Czech beers. The association said in a statement that Czech breweries exported 264 million liters (70 million gallons) of beer last year, about 24 % more than in 2003. Germany is the biggest importer of Czech beers, with 89.8 million liters (24 million gallons) in 2004. 18 million liters (4.8 million gallons) of Czech beer has been exported to the United States in 2004. The overall production of beer in the Czech Republic increased by 1.1 percent to 1.88 billion liters (500 million gallons) in 2004, while domestic consumption dropped by 30 million liters (8 million gallons).

Barley News

Australia: ABB Grain Ltd announced on March 15 it has closed its 2004/05 pools for feed 1 quality barley, however the malting barley pools will remain open to continue receiving deliveries...more info

USA: Barley export sales for the grain year 2004/05 stand at 275,000 tonnes, of which 222,000 tonnes to Japan, balance malting barley: 30,000 tonnes to South Africa, 17,000 tonnes to Canada and 6,000 tonnes to the EU.

Theoretical malt prices.

* - 70/30 = 70% Average two Rows Spring and 30% Six Rows Winter
** - 50/50 = 50% Average two Rows Spring and 50% Six Rows Winter

Theoretical malt prices for crop 2005 are available on site www.e-malt.com/MarketPrices

Malting barley prices. French barley prices.

Nominal prices.

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

Malting Barley Price Evolution

Canadian Malting Barley Prices compared to Danish 2Row

Table of the week

European barley crop estimate. Production forecast in thousand tonnes.

Barley production in '000 tonnes		Spring barley		Total barley
Barley production in '000 tonnes		2005	2004	2005	2004
EU-15	Austria	444	551	1,006	1,004
	Denmark	2,800	2,887	3,672	3,634
	Finland	1,840	1,748	1,840	1,748
	France	3,060	3,691	9,907	10,944
	Germany	2,845	3,372	11,899	12,963
	Ireland	1,005	1,104	1,170	1,274
	Belgium/Lux.	35	35	367	355
	Netherlands	254	274	271	294
	Spain	6,922	7,940	9,173	10,582
	Sweden	1,670	1,638	1,698	1,699
	UK	2,943	3,116	5,444	5,818
	Italy			1,272	1,148
	Greece			327	372
	Portugal			11	16
TOTAL EU-15		23,819	26,356	48,056	51,850
EU-10	Czech Republic	1,269	1,814	1,860	2,401
	Hungary	429	600	1,127	1,460
	Poland	2,758	2,850	3,245	3,518
	Slovakia	545	778	731	984
	Cyprus			110	92
	Estonia	280	286	285	290
	Latvia	299	296	293	306
	Lithuania	647	653	740	690
	Slovenia			28	29
	Malta			3	3
TOTAL EU-10		6,227	7,276	8,420	9,772
TOTAL EU-25		30,046	33,632	56,476	61,622
Europe Non-EU	Romania	330	350	1,014	1,386
	Bulgaria	69	82	780	850
	Serbia			269	279
	Croatia			140	158
	Bosnia			50	53
	Macedonia			138	149
	Albania			30	30
TOTAL Europe Non-EU		399	432	2,420	2,906
TOTAL EUROPE 31		30,445	34,064	58,896	64,529

Source: Coceral, Brussels, February 2005

Graph of the week

Agenda

March 2005:
Night of Great thirst, Belgium;
Zythos Beer Festival, Belgium;
Institute and Guild of Brewing Africa Section 10th Convention, South Africa;
China Drinktec China International Exhibition on Beverage, Brewery and Wine Technology;
FOODEX JAPAN 2005 / INTERNATIONAL FOOD & BEVERAGE EXH;
International Food and Drink (IFE), UK;
BLACK SEA GRAIN: A NEW ENVIRONMENT IN UKRAINE AND REGIONAL PROSPECTS FOR GROWTH;
Deltabierfestival, The Netherlands;
UzFood. International Exhibition for Food, Drink Packaging Technology. Uzbekistan.;
Spring Beer Festival "Hops on Equinox", Seattle;
Brew and Beverage Industry - Beer Auction International Trade Fair, Russia;
Siebel Institute Brewing Profitability Workshop;

April 2005:
Helsinki Beer Festival;
Tour de Geuze 2005. Payottenland, Belgium;
FAB 2005 - BC Food & Beverage Conference. Vancouver, BC;
Grains Week 2005. Queensland, Australia;
Concise Course in Brewing Technology;
World Barley, Malt & Beer Conference 2005;
JOINT LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE. Washington, D.C., USA;
BEER. Exhibition Pavilion Minsk.;
Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America;
Classic City Brewfest, Athens, GA;
SOUTH-UKRAINIAN DAYS OF FOOD AND DRINKS;
SIBFOODEXPO, Siberian Beer. Novosibirsk;
WINES, BEERS AND DRINKS Exhibition for the Beverage Industry. Krasnoyarsk, Russia;
Excursion to West-Flanders;

May 2005:
HOFEX 2005. 11th Asian International Exhibition of Food & Drink. Hong Kong;
30th Congress of the European Brewery Convention;
Beer International Brewing Technology Exhibition. Sochi, Russia.;
Export Credit Guarantee Programs Seminar. USDA;
California Festival of Beers;

More events are available on site e-malt.com