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Page 1 of 2  Plus: Our Register & Win winner of the week!Los Angeles, April 2 – Like the Energizer bunny, cigar imports into the U.S. just keep going and going. Figures for January 2008 have been circulated by the Cigar Association of America and show that, compared to 2007, interest is continuing at a high level. Imports totaled 11.5 million in January, just 0.8% higher than in 2007, when 11.4 million came in. The CAA noted that a new tariff schedule has changed the classification of little cigars into three groups: those valued at less than 15 cents each, those valued from 15-22 cents and 23 cents and more. This is important because in previous years, little cigars were only those in the “less than 15 cents each” category and so some number of little cigars were counted in with “large cigars” and may have even been counted in with premium cigars. That would make the premium cigars totals incorrect for 2007 and perhaps for some years prior. However, more about this won’t be known until later in the year as the pattern of import reports becomes clear. For the time being, comparisons of 2008 figures to 2007 can provide only a rough basis of comparison to previous years. But at present, it’s the only data available. The impact of little cigars is substantial, as shown by the import report. For January, some 5.2 million little cigars in the category of “23 cents and over” were reported to come from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua and Switzerland. For 12 months, that would be 62.4 million, which would be a substantial amount of the 335.2 million premium cigars reported imported in 2007. However, since the tariff categories are new, it is not possible to adjust the reports for previous years and the numbers will have to be examined from this year going forward. In January, the Dominican Republic again led all importers of premium cigars with 5.2 million or 45.2 percent of the total, followed by Nicaragua at 3.8 million (33.0 percent) and Honduras with 2.3 million (20.0 percent). There were also small amounts shown from The Philippines, Costa Rica and Mexico. Although the totals from the Dominican were down by more than 11 percent, Nicaraguan and Honduran imports were up nicely. Nicaragua continued its rise on the American market with a near-10 percent increase over January 2007 and Honduran cigar imports rose by 27.2 percent! America’s general love affair with cigars continued as well, as large-cigar imports increased by almost nine percent to 43.48 million in January. The Dominican Republic dominates the large-cigar sector as well, thanks to its increasing production of machine-made cigars; some 63.3 percent of all large cigars came from that country. Little cigars continue to be made in large numbers in the U.S. and little cigar exports were way up in January to 11.9 million, an increase of 55.9 percent over the January 2007 level of 7.7 million! Cuba announces increase in tobacco production: The official Cuban news agency, Prensa Latina, carried an announcement Sunday that tobacco production across Cuba was being increased by as much as 30 percent over previous harvests. |
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Did you know?
“Alfred Dunhill opened his first shop in 1893, his first tobacco shop in London in 1907 and the New York store in 1923.
