[India] Beer Makers Face Bottle Shortage

Indian beer producers are facing an unusual problem: a shortage of glass bottles. With soft drinks manufacturers pushing 200ml returnable glass bottles for their beverages, brewers are having difficulties in obtaining sufficient quantities of bottles. Prices of new bottles have risen in the last two years from INR 4 to INR 5.50, while prices of old bottles have gone up even more steeply, from INR 3 to INR 7.30 in the space of 3 years. With pressure on prices, brewers UB and SAB Miller are looking at importing beer bottles to augment domestic supplies, even though the volumes of imports are expected to be small. The imports are likely to be from Malaysia and Indonesia.