Azerbaijan, Baku, Mar.18/ Trend F.Milad
By launching two new cigarette brands of Marlink and Asia, Шran will start exporting cigarettes to its neighbouring countries, the Managing Director of Iranian Tobacco Company Masoum Najafian said on Monday, the Mehr News Agency reported.
Domestic companies supply only half the country's cigarettes consumption, Najafian said, noting that Iranians annually pay 20 trillion rials (some $1.63 billion based on the official rate of USD) for cigarettes.
About 8870 tons of cigarettes valued at nearly $88.47 million were imported by Iran in the first 11 months of the current Iranian calendar year which began on March 20, 2012, the ISNA news agency reported.
The figures showed a 53.6 per cent increase and two per cent decrease respectively in terms of weight and value compared to the same period in the preceding year.
Switzerland and the UAE, Turkey and South Korea were the main source of cigarette exports to Iran.
According to the managing director of the Iranian Tobacco Company, some 46 billion cigarettes are projected to be produced in the country by the end of the current year.
Last year, nearly 63.8 million cigarettes were smoked in Iran.