Japan Beer, Quasi-Beer Shipments Down 6.3 Pct in Feb.

Tokyo, March 10 (Jiji Press)--Beer and quasi-beer shipments in
Japan in February fell 6.3 pct from a year before to 29,255,000 cases, a
record low for the month, data from five major brewers showed Wednesday.

Shipments were down for the second straight month. Each case
contains the equivalent of 20 633-milliliter bottles.
The fall reflected consumers' continued moves to curb spending and
unfavorable weather conditions.
By category, shipments of so-called third-segment beer-like
beverages with little or no malt content rose 3.7 pct to 9,744,000 cases.
In contrast, beer shipments fell 7.7 pct to 13,468,000 cases, and
shipments of "happoshu" low-malt quasi-beer products plunged 16.2 pct to
6,044,000 cases.
The proportion of beer in the total shipments came to 46.0 pct, the
lowest level for any month.