‘Best harvest in decade’

Cuban authorities are describing this year’s tobacco harvest as the best in a decade, according to Xinhua News Agency. The country is expecting around 19,000 tons of leaf this season.

Industry representatives attributed the high quality to optimal weather conditions.

Cuba’s premium cigar industry is controlled by Habanos, a joint venture between state-owned Cubatabaco and Altadis, a subsidiary of Imperial Brands.

In 2016, Habanos earned $445 million from the sale of Cuban cigars, 5 percent more than it did in 2015.

Even without access to the world’s largest premium cigar market, the United States, Habanos still accounts for 70 percent of hand-rolled cigars sold worldwide.

While praising this year’s harvest, Cuban Vice-President Jose Ramon Machado called on tobacco producers to keep working hard.

“The year to come has to be even better,” he commented after visiting various production centers in Pinar del Rio, Cuba’s most westerly province and its main tobacco producer.