PMI Suspends Bologna Operations

Philip Morris (PM) is suspending operations at its Bologna, Italy, plant for a week.

About 50 percent of PM’s IQOS heatsticks are manufactured at the Bologna plant. The closure comes amid the outbreak of Covid-19 and aims to help prevent further spread of the virus.

There are adequate supplies of inventory to cover the closure of the plant, including more than two months of heated-tobacco units, more than three months of tobacco-heating devices and more than a month and a half of cigarettes, according to the company’s press release.

The company’s other heated-tobacco facilities remain open, and there is flexibility to shift production to other locations. PM operated 38 factories as of 2019, with seven producing heated-tobacco units and the largest facilities in Indonesia, Turkey, the Philippines, Russia, Poland, Lithuania and Italy.