Czech Republic: Beer production for Q1 on rise by of 6 % year-on-year

Czech brewers produced 3.98 million hectolitres of beer in Q1, a growth of 6 % from a year ago, director of the Czech Brewing and Malting Association Jan Vesely told CTK on April 25, according to The Prague Daily Monitor.

Data on Czech beer sales abroad are not available yet but in view of the long and severe winter in the country exports may have been the driving force of the growth, said Vesely. Weather has a great effect on beer sales.

Last year, domestic beer sales fell by 5 % in Q1 against 2004, and the very cold February was the reason.The decline was not offset by exports, and Q1 output was down 2 % year-on-year in 2005.

This year, beer output increased by 3.1 % in January, by 7.1 % in February, and by 6.7 % in March.Beer exports totalled 3.1 million hectolitres last year, a growth of 17 % from 2004.Overall, Czech beer output totalled 19.07 million hectolitres, and was up 1.7 %. Exports accounted for 16 %, compared to the world average of 6 %.

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