Cuba's top cigar maker Habanos said on Monday (February 24) that sales of the company’s luxurious smokes had soared to a record $827 million in 2024 as revenues continued to pour in from fast-growing markets in China and elsewhere in Asia. - REUTERS
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00:00They're one of the few remaining export earners for Cuba's crisis-wrecked economy.
00:06And now, cigars might just give policymakers in Havana something to celebrate.
00:11The country's top maker, Habanos, reported record sales of $827 million in 2024, driven
00:19by rising demand in China and around Asia.
00:22Company Vice President Jorge Perez said sales rose 16 percent, driven by wealthy smokers
00:28in Asia, which now accounts for a quarter of its global market.
00:34For several years now, the level of sales of Habanos in Chinese markets, either in continental
00:40China or other non-continental territories of China, have increased our product's demand.
00:45Many Chinese Habanos consumers are also big collectors.
00:50China is the world's largest market for tobacco, making it crucial to Habanos' success.
00:56But sales surged in 2024, despite Cuban farmers still recovering from Hurricanes Rafael and
01:02Ian, which hit key tobacco regions and damaged crops.
01:07But Habanos' vice president for development told Reuters that production for making cigars
01:12is guaranteed.
01:14The country's smooth tobacco is regarded as the best in the cigar industry, praised for
01:18a unique quality arising from rich soil and a benign climate.
01:23Habanos is jointly owned by Cuba's government and a group of Asian investors called Tabacalera.