HAVANA TIMES – Cuba sold cigars worth US $537 million in 2018, up seven percent from the previous year, despite an international spike in anti-smoking laws, says Habanos, which has a monopoly on the industry on the Island.

“The tobacco market is always surrounded by an increasingly complex regulatory environment,” said Habanos’s vice president of business development Jose Maria Lopez Inchaurbe on Monday, reported dpa news.

However, “In Gulf countries we’ve had a 100 per cent increase in sales to the public. You can imagine the impact that has,” Lopez said on Monday during the launch of the 21st Cuban cigar festival.

Habanos is a joint venture formed by the state-owned Cubatabaco and Spanish company Altadis, owned by British tobacco giant Imperial Tobacco.

The different brands of cigars produced by the company, including Montectristo and Cohiba, made up 70 per cent of the 140 million Cuban cigars sold worldwide last year.

Sales increased despite Cuban cigars being banned in the United States, whose citizens may only import a small amount for personal use if they visit Cuba.

Cuban cigars are sold in about 150 countries, with their main market being Spain, China, France, Germany and Cuba itself. The European market makes up 53 per cent of the market for Habanos.        https://havanatimes.org/?p=148861

The interesting impact and probably the most difficult to measure would be Americans traveling there and returning with boxes.  I would think some measure would be sales impact (growth) within Cuba since the restrictions were lifted in Oct 2018 (Under 31 C.F.R. § 515.204 (c).

As far as I am aware there are no restrictions on quantities or limit by value so long as they are for personal use and brought back in accompanied baggage

In Cuba you have to be careful where and from whom you buy cigars, remembering that cigar workers there are only paid $20.00 per month.  The factory in Costa Rica is very close to releasing the latest proprietary blend with all filler from Pinar del Rio.  I hope to have these in the CG vendor critique for July and available for all Geeks to enjoy.  Curiously while our cigars are sold worldwide, the largest client buying cigars from the Factory in Puriscal, Costa Rica, at this time is in Turkey.

Cuba’s Counterfeit Cigars: Know your Fakes.    Today, it is estimated that almost as many ‘fake’ cigars are sold in tourist scams than real ones. Here is a great article; https://havanatimes.org/?p=131660

 

Great article John. Thanks for sharing that.