AB InBev Agrees Deal With South Africa to Transport Excess Beer

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — Anheuser-Busch InBev NV received the go-ahead from the South African government to transport drinks from manufacturing plants to depots, avoiding the need to dump millions of liters of beer and saving the government 500 million rand ($27 million) in lost taxes.

South Africa has banned the sale and movement of alcoholic drinks as part of measures to contain the coronavirus, and the restriction was kept in place even after an easing of initial rules from May 1. That’s forced South African Breweries — AB InBev’s Johannesburg-based unit — to hold onto stores of popular lager brands such as Castle and Hansa.

“Warehouses at SAB’s seven breweries are now at full capacity and unable to absorb any further inventory,” AB InBev said in a statement on Monday. The agreement with the government “is a clear indication that we can and should collaborate on solutions that will help protect the livelihoods of the over 250,000 South Africans across SAB’s broad value chain.”