Malawi has been hit with a shortage of Carlsberg beer, a situation which has resulted in traders travelling all the way from Zomba, Mulanje and Chiradzulu to Carlsberg Malawi Breweries in Blantyre to access the commodity.

As of Tuesday morning, according to the traders, the situation had forced the company to start rationing the beer.

"We are only allowed to buy up to 10 crates of beer. Some of us have travelled all the way from Mulanje because the beverage is not available there and to be offered 10 crates it is very unfair," said one of the traders.

Carlsberg Malawi Corporate Communications Officer Towela Munthali Pilling attributed the problem to shortage of glass bottles and other factors such as line maintenance and water supply interruptions.

She, however, said imbibers should not panic following the shortage of the alcoholic beverage as the company is working on normalising supply to meet the demand.

"Our Carlsberg beer products are packaged in returnable glass bottles which when returned from the market are re-used for packaging during production. Currently, empty glass bottles are not being returned quick enough from the market to our factories, which, in turn has impacted on our beer production," said Pilling.

She also said production was interrupted in the first 2 weeks of July due to the installation of new labellers as part of the maintenance work for the brewery line.

"Beer production was also affected on July 20 to July 22, when we experienced interruptions to Blantyre Water Board supply and further on July 26 and 27, when water supply was also interrupted (during the Blantyre Water Board strike). While the line is currently running, the intermittent production has also affected beer availability," he said.

Pilling has however assured imbibers that beer production has normalised and the company is working to meet demand on the market.