Tobacco News

A long-term plan by Japan’s government to raise about $24 billion to help fund rebuilding efforts after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami has been cut back by a few thousand farmers summoning their political influence to save their livelihood—growing tobacco leaf.

First touted in September, the plan drawn up by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s Democratic Party of Japan to sell the state’s 50% stake in Japan Tobacco Inc. in a two-stage process is a relatively small element of a package to raise ¥12 trillion, or about $150 billion, to finance rebuilding after the disasters. Ream more »

Japan Tobacco Inc.’s international unit said it plans to invest as much as 25 million euros ($36 million) to increase cigarette output in Romania by next year.

The first new production lines at a factory in Bucharest will be operational in the second half of this month, Japan Tobacco International said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The unit plans to complete the investment in the first part of next year, it said.
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HARBOROUGH MP Edward Garnier has been criticised over his acceptance of an invite by a cigarette manufacturer to attend the Chelsea Flower Show.

Mr Garnier was one of a number of MPs featured in the Daily Telegraph last week for accepting invites to the event from cigarette firms. Two of his constituents, Sandie Harwood, of Great Glen, and Qasim Chowdary, of Wigston, emailed the Mail this week (see letters page) following Mr Garnier’s declaration of the £1,132.80 of hospitality on the MPs’ benefits register. Ream more »

The Children’s Investment Fund, the hedge fund that stirred controversy in Japan in a shareholder campaign for change at the utility J-Power three years ago, has launched a push for a shake-up at the state-controlled Japan Tobacco.

In a letter to Japan’s finance ministry, TCI said poor management of Japan Tobacco’s capital structure by its board and senior executives was “destroying shareholder value”.
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Japan Tobacco (JT) said Thursday its net profit in January-March fell 19.3 percent from a year earlier, reflecting a special loss from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disasters.
Profit in the quarter stood at 25.4 billion yen ($302 million).
With two of its six domestic tobacco plants damaged by the quake, the company, which owns brands such as Camel, Benson & Hedges and Winston, booked a special loss of 10.9 billion yen. Ream more »

The Nova Scotia government is sticking its nose into the tanning beds of the province, and that’s not such a bad thing. Persons under the age of 19 will no longer be allowed to bathe under the rays of artificial UV lights under proposed regulations in the Tanning Bed Act, introduced by Health Promotion and Protection Minister Maureen MacDonald on Monday. And, similar to the graphic stickers on cigarette packages, salons that offer the use of tanning beds will be required to post warnings outlining the risks associated with tanning bed use for adult users. Read more

TOKYO – A LAST-MINUTE rush ahead of a record tobacco tax hike boosted cigarette sales in Japan by 88 per cent from a year earlier to 37.4 billion sticks in September, an industry association said on Wednesday. ‘There was a rapid rise in demand in August and September in anticipation of the price increases to stock up on cigarettes,’ Tobacco Institute of Japan manager Tomohiro Noguchi said. Ream more »

Japanese retailers have experienced a bit of a rush recently—of the nicotine variety.
An increase in tobacco tax added around 100 yen ($1.20) to the price of a pack of 20 cigarettes at midnight on Thursday, sucking the nation’s smokers into stores earlier in the week to stock up on cartons of their favourite fix beforehand. Convenience store managers have aggressively advertised the price hike for weeks, hoping that nicotine-addicts will buy an extra box or two from their shops. Ream more »

The government has notified the ban on FDI in cigarette manufacturing, a decision taken by the Union Cabinet on April 8.
“Manufacturing of cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes, of tobacco or of tobacco substitutes” have been put under the list of sectors where FDI is prohibited. Read more

The world’s third largest tobacco company by sales volume, Japan Tobacco Inc, has invested $65 million (Rs 293 crore) in its Indian unit without increasing its shareholding, just days ahead of a government decision to ban foreign direct investment in cigarette manufacturing. Read more