WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Beer Institute here has released its 1999 best estimates of beer shipments.
Tax paid withdrawals, another name for domestic brewership, the best available measure of how much the domestic brewers ship for domestic consumption, is up 0.9%, to 179.2 million barrels.
The import piece is up about 10% for the year, at 17.95 million barrels, up from 16.3 million in 1998. Matthew A. Hein, director of statistical and information services for the Beer Institute, noted that all of these are estimates because the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has not published any information in more than two years.
Nonalcohol beers are down steeply, 9.5%, to 1.45 million barrels. NA imports are down but exports are up. Haake Beck is probably the biggest import of the bunch, Hein noted. Exports are down about 10% to 5 million barrels.
"Our best estimate is total activity of 203.8 million barrels, up about 1. 25% from 1998," he told SN.
