Sabeco's Sai Gon beer brand produced 107.3 million litres, up by 19.5 per cent compared with the production in March. — File Photo

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Beer production in the first four months of 2014 reached 873.5 million litres, 4.5 per cent higher than the same period last year, reported the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

In April alone, the production grew by 26.5 per cent compared with that in March, totalling 240.8 million litres. Of this figure, Ha Noi beer brand of Habeco produced 40 million litres, a 113.7 per cent month-on-month increase, and Sabeco's Sai Gon beer brand produced 107.3 million litres, up by 19.5 per cent compared with the production in March.

The ministry asked the manufacturers to enhance productivity, improve quality and improve branding and marketing activities, especially in the tourist locations in order to raise sales and revenue.

The competition among domestic and foreign brewers is on the rise in Viet Nam, where people consumed nearly three billion litres of beer last year.

Viet Nam's biggest brewer Sabeco operates 24 plants across the country with an estimated capacity of over 1.8 billion litres per year. The company is reported to invest in three more projects from now till next year. The second largest brewer Habeco owns 14 breweries with a total output of around 811 million litres per year.

Despite a high import tax of 45 per cent coupled with other taxes, local consumers are able to still lay their hands on dozens of imported beer brands, which are turning the beer market into a red competition ground. — VNS