Tehran, Iran, August 8
By Mehdi Sepahvand –- Trend:
The current tobacco production in Iran meets only 20 percent of the country’s demands and there are plans to improve the domestic production to cover the entire demand, according to Ali Asqar Marzi, head of the Iranian Tobacco Planning Center.
The Iranian government intends to eliminate the need for imported tobacco, he said, noting that 80 percent of Iran’s tobacco consumption is import-bound, ISNA news agency reported, Aug 8.
According to Marzi, imported tobacco costs 30 to 40 percent more than domestically produced one.
Iran produced 11 billion cigarettes during the first 3 months of the current fiscal year (March 20-June 21), Ramzi said, Jul 4.
The output of Iran’s 12 cigarette producing companies indicates almost 60 percent increase, compared to the production levels during the same period of the preceding year, he said.
Islamic Republic imported 700 million cigarettes in the first 3 months of the current fiscal year, indicating a fall by 75 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
In the current fiscal year (to end March 20, 2018) Iran’s home-made cigarette production output is planned to reach 50 billion.