FOSHAN, Guangdong: US-based Anheuser-Busch, one of the world's leading beer makers, yesterday announced it will build a brewery in this Pearl River Delta city.

With an initial investment of $63 million, construction of the brewery will begin next month and is set for completion late next year.

The project will be capable of yielding 2.6 million hectoliters annually at the initial stage. Sufficient room has been set aside for future expansion.

The brands to be brewed at the facility are Budweiser, Bud Ice, Budweiser Ultra and Budweiser Genuine Draft as well as Harbin premium brands for the domestic market.

"As one of the largest-volume and fastest growing beer markets in the world, China remains one of our most important international priorities," said August A. Busch, president and CEO of Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.

"The Foshan brewery will allow us to increase the availability of Budweiser and Harbin premium brands in China, where the premium and super-premium categories are growing faster than the rest of the industry and have tremendous long-term potential."

He said the new facility is part of Anheuser-Busch's strategy to position itself more favorably for future growth in China. It will help to promote Budweiser as a leading international premium beer while expanding Harbin's premium brands outside Northeast China and partner with Tsingtao Brewery Company to strengthen its position as a leading brewer in China.

Anheuser-Busch aims to double Budweiser's distribution across the nation over the next five years by expanding to 100 new cities each with a population of over 1 million where it aims to have another 150 million Budweiser drinkers. It also aims to introduce Harbin premium brands to 33 new markets in China this year.

The Foshan facility is Anheuser-Busch's second self-invested brewery in China. Its first one was in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province, in 1995. The Wuhan brewery has an annual production capacity of 4.2 million hectoliters, four times the initial design capacity.

(China Daily 04/04/2007 page14)