Japan: Beer shipments jump by 5.2% in May 2007

Domestic shipments of beer and beerlike beverages rose in May for the first time in four months thanks to a rise in "third-category" beer, according to industry data, Kyodo News reported June 13. Overall shipments rose 5.2% compared with a year ago to 40.94 million cases, according to beer producers and the Brewers Association of Japan.

Shipments of third-category beer, mostly nonmalt sparking drinks that taste similar to beer, soared 70.5% compared with the previous year, when sales slumped after the government imposed a higher tax levy on them. In contrast, shipments fell 4.2% for real beer and 4.7% for the low-malt quasibeer known as "happoshu."

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