Philip Morris to close Dutch cigarette factory

Philip Morris International will shut down its manufacturing facility in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands, in response do declining demand for cigarettes in Europe.

The closure of the plant in Bergen op Zoom, PMI’s largest production facility worldwide, would result in 1,230 job losses, about 90 percent of its total workforce there. Production will shift to other factories in Europe with spare capacity, it said.

PMI’s said sales volumes have plummeted 20 percent in the past four years and that a recovery is “highly unlikely.”

The company also blamed a new EU tobacco-control law that will ban flavored cigarettes and require bigger warning labels on packets.

Earlier, Philip Morris said it would stop making cigarettes in Australia by year-end, resulting in the loss of 180 jobs as the company shifts production to South Korea.