Anheuser-Busch to build new China brewery

Anheuser-Busch Cos. will build a new brewery outside downtown Tangshan in northeast China to replace a smaller downtown brewery, the St. Louis-based brewer announced.

The move supports the local government’s efforts to relocate industrial facilities outside the city and redevelop Tangshan’s downtown into a more residential and commercial area, according to A-B and a Chinese government official.

“The local government asked us to support efforts to redevelop downtown Tangshan by relocating and expanding our existing brewery,” said YR Cheng, president of Anheuser-Busch China, in a statement. ”We worked together to develop a plan that benefited the Tangshan community and Anheuser-Busch’s business.”

Scheduled for completion in late 2009, the new Tangshan brewery will be built on a 160,000 square meter site and cost $49 million for the first phase. The facility will have an initial production capacity of 2.6 million barrels — equal to about 1.6 percent of the beer sold by Anheuser-Busch and equity partners last year. The older brewery, which will be closed, can handle 1.8 million barrels.

Tangshan officials want to change the city’s landscape by creating a downtown that welcomes residents and tourists.  After the brewery project is completed, the old Tangshan brewery will be shut down and the site will be prepared for future residential or commercial development.

Anheuser-Busch has big plans in China, the world’s biggest beer market. A-B sells the Budweiser family of brands there, as well as Harbin and Tang beers. A-B says Budweiser is the best-selling beer in China’s super-premium category.

Last year, Anheuser-Busch announced plans to build a new brewery in Foshan in China’s Guangdong province. The greenfield brewery, Anheuser-Busch’s first outside the U.S., is slated for completion later this year.

In 2004, Anheuser-Busch acquired Harbin Brewery Group and its 13 breweries. Harbin is China’s oldest brewery, founded in 1900, and A-B touts its leading position in Northeast China.

Anheuser-Busch first invested in China in 1993, when the company made a minority investment in Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd. Two years later, Anheuser-Busch established its first brewing facility in China in the city of Wuhan. The Wuhan brewery has quadrupled its original capacity to 3.86 million barrels.