Kenya plant to up processing 41 percent

British American Tobacco Kenya (BATK) has estimated that it will this year process nearly 41 percent more leaf tobacco at its plant at Thika, Kenya, than it processed there last year, according to a story in The Star.

The increase, from 27,000 tonnes to 38,000 tonnes, will be mainly down to the arrival of tobacco from two processing plants recently closed by BAT: one at Kampala, Uganda, and the other at Kinshasa, Democratic Republic.

BATK Chief Executive Chris Burrell said the closure of the two plants would cut operational costs.

“(It) will improve our efficiencies, reduce our unit costs and drive improvements in our frontier markets,” he was quoted as saying.