Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 7
By Fatih Karimov– Trend:
Iran produced 23.13 billion cigarettes during the first half of the current fiscal year (March 20-Sept. 22), Ali Asghar Ramzi, head of Iran’s Center for Tobacco Planning and Supervision, said.
The output of Iran’s 12 cigarette producing companies indicates a 20 percent increase compared to Iran's cigarettes production during the same period of the preceding year, Ramzi said, the Iranian Industry, Mine and Trade Ministry’s official website reported Oct. 7.
The Islamic Republic imported 1.4 billion cigarettes in the first 6 months of the current fiscal year, indicating a fall by 56 percent compared to the same period of the preceding year, Ramzi added.
Ramzi further said that about 3.13 billion cigarettes are estimated to have been smuggled into the country during the 6-month period, 38 percent less compared to last year.
Iran also exported 160 million cigarettes in the same time span, a 14 percent increase year-on-year, the official said.
About 27.5 billion cigarettes were smoked in Iran in the first half of current fiscal year, he added.
About 6,000 hectares of lands in Iran are under tobacco cultivation, Ramiz said, adding that annually 9,000 tons of tobacco is harvested in Iran, meanwhile the country’s cigarette producing companies need at least 40,000 tons of tobacco.
Over 80 percent of the tobacco, used in Iran’s cigarette factories is supplied through imports, he said.
The Iranian administration seriously follows a plan to domestically produce foreign cigarette brands, in order to cut the imports.
Iran produced 45 billion cigarettes during the last Iranian fiscal year (ended March 20), 15 billion more year-on-year