The Beer Institute published today its monthly estimate of domestic tax paid shipments by beer brewers for May 2020. The figures show a decline of 6.6% to 14.2 million barrels (16.7m hl), a loss of 1 million barrels (1.17m hl) compared to May 2019. In April shipments already declined by 0.7 million barrels (0.8m hl) which adds up to a total loss of 1.89 million barrels (2.22m hl) since the beginning of this year.
While many other countries in Asia and Europe already recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and ease measures that restricted the sale of beer, the United States government is still downplaying the rising number of cases of the coronavirus thus aggravating the crisis and its impact on economy. Therefore it is expected that also the June figures which are scheduled to be released on July 30, 2020 will show a further decline in domestic beer shipments.
The figures are based on unofficial estimates of domestic tax paid shipments compiled by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). However, “The Beer Institute is expecting significant revisions for March 2020, April 2020, May 2020, and future months’ estimates as TTB Industry Circular 2020-2 has postponed reporting requirements for filing and payment due dates for up to 90 days,” the statement says.
The Beer Institute is a national trade association for the American brewing industry, representing both large and small brewers, as well as importers and industry suppliers. The organization, founded in 1862 as the U.S. Brewers Association and reorganized as the Beer Institute in 1986 is based in Washington, D.C., and represents the USD 328 billion beer industry – an industry that includes 7,000 brewers and more than 2.1 million jobs in the United States.
