(Business in Cameroon) - Brewers in Cameroon sold a total of 6,500,000 hl (650 million liters), free beer excluded and trade included, as at December 31, 2018, according to data provided by Société Anonyme des Brasseries du Cameroun (SABC).

These figures remain approximatively stable compared to sales the previous year, but are slightly 0.4% lower. Market leader Sabc says it sold 4,655,000 hl (465.5 million liters) over the period reviewed, down 1.3% compared to 2017, representing 7.1% of sales targets. The remaining 184.5 million liters was sold by Guinness Cameroun and UCB.

Of the volumes sold, Sabc exported 43,700 hl (4.37 million liters) down 0.6% compared to the previous year due to “the difficult economic period in the CEMAC zone and the extent of fraudulent imports of products from Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.”

Following the enforcement of the new 2019 Finance Act and the subsequent price increase on March 1, 2019, the SABC is expecting a 10% decrease in volumes on the reference products for which it had to increase prices; this means a reduction in sales by nearly 450,000 hl (4.5 million liters).

S.A