Australia, Melbourne: Foster's Group, Lion Nathan and other Australian brewers are selling as much as a fifth more beer as residents of Melbourne seek respite from the hottest start to the southern hemisphere's summer in more than a century, company executives say, according to Bloomberg News report from January 5.

Melbourne, home to 3.4 million people, had its warmest December since 1873, while Adelaide and Sydney also recorded higher than normal temperatures. Brewers and pub owners collect a third of Australia's 11 billion Australian dollars, or $8.4 billion, in annual beer sales in the December-to-February period.

December sales at Coopers Brewery, Australia's No.3 brewer, jumped 18 % to a record, according to its managing director, Tim Cooper. Foster's and Lion, which have about 97 % of the market, said hot weather is raising sales in the country, which has the highest per-capita beer consumption outside Europe.

"Beer sales are probably up 20 %," said Dan Payne, food and beverage manager at Young Jackson, a 142-year-old tavern in downtown Melbourne that serves more draught beer than any other pub in Victoria state. The pub buys 80 to 100 kegs - barrels holding 50 liters, or 13 gallons - of beer a week for the 800 people who drink there on average each day, Payne said.

Daytime temperatures in Melbourne, Australia's second-most populous city, averaged 27.2 degrees Celsius, or 81 Fahrenheit in December - 3.1 degrees hotter than normal, according to the Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology.

"There is a correlation between temperature and beer consumption," said Geoff Donohue, general manager of public affairs at Foster's beer unit, Carlton United Breweries. "Demand has been strong across the board, but draught beer has been particularly strong."

The Melbourne-based maker of Victoria Bitter, Carlton and Foster's beer has a 55 % share of the local beer market.

At Adelaide-based Coopers, sales reached 4.5 million liters last month, helped by a 24 % jump in demand in Victoria, Cooper said. Sales of his Pale Ale, Sparkling Ale and other brews, were 13.5 % higher for the six months ended Dec. 31 than a year earlier, putting the closely held company ahead of its targeted 10 % annual growth rate, Cooper said.

Hotter weather may help prolong a rebound in beer drinking.

Beer sales in Australia grew 0.2 % by volume in the year to Sept. 30, the first rise in two years, Lion Nathan said in November.

"Beer is a mature market, so any seasonal improvement is positive," said Glynn Meth, an analyst at BT Financial Group in Sydney.

Australians downed an average 109 liters of beer in 2002, according to Kirin Brewery, Japan's second-largest brewer. Czechs are the biggest beer drinkers, consuming an average 158 liters, almost twice as much as the average American. Ireland and Germany ranked second and third, according to the results of Kirin's annual global beer survey.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .