A box of Cuban cigars in Havana, February 26, 2024 (AFP/ADALBERTO ROQUE)
International sales of Cuban cigars, one of the island’s main export products, have increased significantly by 31% in 2023, the company Habanos SA announced on Monday, which explains this spectacular jump by strong global demand for cigars. luxury products.
“Habanos SA achieved a turnover of $721 million in 2023, which represents an increase in value of 31% compared to 2022,” Jorge Pérez Martell, commercial vice-president of Habanos SA, declared at a press conference. The company that ensures the export of the famous “habanos”.
By 2022, sales had increased only slightly, by 2%, with revenue of $545 million. In 2021, the increase had already been very significant, of 15% compared to the previous year despite the coronavirus pandemic.
“With the end of the pandemic, the luxury market in general and the consumption of premium cigars in particular have seen very strong growth in demand in all regions,” said José Maria Lopez Inchaurbe, vice president in responsible for development, on the first day of the 24th Havana International Cigar Festival.
The development of high-end “specialized products”, “limited and exclusive editions”, were also “one of the drivers of growth in 2023”, according to this manager.
By country, China “remains the largest global market” in value, followed by Spain, Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom. In volume terms, Spain, France and China are the top three consumers.
By region and value, Europe remains the main market for Cuban cigars (56%), followed by Asia-Pacific (21%), the Americas (13%) and Africa and the Middle East (10%). %).
Cuban cigars do not have access to the North American market, the largest in the world for cigars, due to the embargo imposed by Washington on the communist island since 1962.
While western Cuba, a traditional tobacco production area, was hit in 2022 by a powerful hurricane, “the Cuban (tobacco) industry is recovering,” added the company’s co-president, Luis Sanchez -Harguindey Pardo de Vera.
Habanos SA is a joint venture bringing together the Cuban State and Tabacalera SLU, headquartered in Spain.
Long owned by the British group Imperial Brands, Tabacalera has belonged since 2020 to a consortium of Asian investors, united under the name Allied Cigar Corporation. Neither the name nor the country of origin of these investors have been officially communicated.
Cuban tobacco, reputed to be one of the best in the world, is one of the island’s top export products along with nickel, seafood, vaccines and medical services.
These sales are good news for the Cuban economy, which fell by 2% last year and is going through its worst crisis in three decades.
© 2024 AFP
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