CNTC, Habanos sign deal

The China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC) and Cuba’s Habanos S.A. have signed a letter of intent on increasing Cuba’s cigar exports to China, according to a Xinhua News Agency story.

The CNTC’s general manager, Ling Chengxing, and the co-presidents of Habanos, Inocente Nunez and Luis Sanchez-Harguindey, signed the agreement in Havana on Sunday.

According to the agreement, Habanos will assist with cigar production in China while expanding its cigar sales there.

“With the support of the Cuban side and the Chinese side, and the Chinese and Cuban people, I am sure that Cuban tobacco is going to do very well in China,” said Ling, who doubles as the director-general of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, the regulator of China’s tobacco industry.

The story said that Cuba’s cigar and cigarette sales to China accounted for more than half of its sales by volume and about 70 percent by revenue.

Habanos, a joint venture between Cuba’s state-owned Cubatabaco and Altadis, an affiliate of Imperial Brands, recorded revenue of about US$450 million last year.