Another tough month for domestic beer production as the Beer Institute (BI) published its estimate of domestic tax paid shipments by brewers which shows a decrease of 8.3% compared to September 2023. Year-to-date beer shipments through September is now down 3.8% compared to the same time last year.
The decline in shipments mirrors the estimated decline in overall beer sales for the year. The BI’s chief economist Andrew Heritage, speaking at the annual BI meeting last week said that the trade association estimates that sales-to-retailers are down is 3% YTD.
The September estimate is 12,000,000 barrels compared to September 2023 removals of 13,081,553. September was the second biggest decline of the year with only February being worse with a 9.6% decline versus February of 2023.
Total removals from all domestic breweries for the year through September is 113,755,733 barrels compared to 118,214,398 barrels through September 2023.