Havana (AFP)
Cuban cigar sales increased 2% in 2019, the slowest pace in the past six years, due to a drop in demand in the Asia-Pacific region, stirred by the socio-political conflict in Hong Kong.
"This year we reached 531 million dollars (in turnover), an increase of 2% compared to the previous year," Co-chairman of Habanos SA, Luis Sanchez, told AFP. -Harguindey.
"We have had socio-political incidents in markets important to us, like Hong Kong, and this has slowed the growth of this market," he added.
Hong Kong has been the scene of an unprecedented political crisis since June 2019 since its retrocession by the United Kingdom to China in 1997.
In 2019, sales in Asia decreased by 3%, whereas they had increased by 9% in 2018.
Social protests in Lebanon have also had an impact on the sector.
The year 2020 should be made even more complicated by the cornavirus epidemic that has spread from China.
However, Habanos executives remain optimistic: "It is too early to be able to assess the impact of the coronavirus (on the company). But we are convinced that other high-growth regions in the Middle East, in Europe of the "East, emerging countries and mature European markets are doing very well," said Sanchez-Harguindey.
Habanos SA is a joint venture between Cubatabaco and Altadis, owned by the British Imperial Tobacco Group and headquartered in Spain. It has no access to the United States market because of the American embargo imposed by Washington on the Socialist Island since 1962.
In 2017 and 2018, China was one of the main drivers of Cuban cigar consumption, with global sales up 12% and 7% respectively.
The top five Cuban cigar consumer countries are Spain, China, France, Germany and Cuba.
Europe accounts for 53% of sales volumes, followed by the Americas (18%), Africa and the Middle East (15%) and Asia-Pacific (14%).
© 2020 AFP