Beer sales in China weaken

• Beer consumption in China fell in 2014 for the first time since 1998, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics in China.
• Volume dropped 1.8% Y/Y to 49.39M kiloliters.
• The drop is partially attributable to a drop in lavish spending and grift from politicians as well as a younger generation not as prone to binge drink as their parents.
• Kirin Holdings (OTCPK:KNBWY, OTCPK:KNBWF), China Resources Snow Breweries (SABMiller (OTCPK:SBMRY) J/V), Tsingtao Brewery (OTCPK:TSGTY, OTCPK:TSGTF), Carlsberg (OTCPK:CABGY, OTCPK:CABJF), and Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) are the beer heavyweights in China.