Cuban cigar sales up in 2012

Cuban cigar sales rose last year despite the continuing economic crisis in some of its most important European markets, including its number one buyer, Spain, according to an Associated Press Newswires story quoting state-run tobacco company officials.

Sales had totaled $416 million in 2012, Habanos SA representatives told reporters at a press conference held to start Cuba’s Cigar Festival in a Havana convention center. That was up from $401 million the previous year.