Philip Morris International (PMI) will invest approximately €300 million ($323.72 million) to convert its Papastratos cigarette factory, in Greece, into a manufacturing facility for the tobacco sticks to be used with its IQOS tobacco-heating product. These tobacco sticks are currently commercialized as Heets or HeatSticks.
Because the equipment necessary to manufacture tobacco sticks is larger than that required for cigarette manufacturing, the current facility area will be expanded. Once fully operational, the plant will have an annual capacity of around 20 billion tobacco sticks. The investment will create 400 new jobs at Papastratos, which already employs approximately 800 people. Construction on the site will commence immediately, with production scheduled to begin in January 2018.
“This investment is further evidence of our progress towards a smoke-free future,” said Frederic de Wilde, PMI’s regional president for the European Union. “We are encouraged by the 1.4 million smokers who have already switched to IQOS around the world, and we expect this momentum to continue.”
Located in Aspropyrgos, the Papastratos plant in will be PMI’s third facility fully dedicated to the manufacture of smoke-free products. In October 2016, PMI announced completion of its first facility for tobacco sticks manufacturing near Bologna, Italy, in addition to a pre-existing small scale industrial development center in Neuchatel, Switzerland.
IQOS is one of four smoke-free product types from PMI to address adult smoker demand for potentially less-harmful alternatives to cigarettes. Launched in late 2014 in two city test markets, the product is expected to be available in key cities in more than 30 markets in 2017.
Since 2008, PMI has hired more than 400 scientists and experts and invested over $3 billion in research, product development, and scientific substantiation. Results of scientific research to assess the reduced-risk potential of IQOS are very promising, according to PMI, and the company has been sharing its scientific methodologies and findings for independent third-party review and verification.
According to Stifel, PMI sold every HeatStick it produced in 2016 (7.4 billion units). For 2017, the investment bank expects the company to sell 27 billion HeatSticks and achieve a break-even profit performance.
The organizers of the Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN) have announced at https://gfn.net.co/home-2017/bios the names of the first speakers to have been confirmed for the 2017 event.
The GFN is due to be held at the Marriott Centrum Hotel, Warsaw, Poland on June 15-17.
The main GFN program, which is scheduled for June 16 and 17, will examine the rapidly developing science in relation to nicotine use and the changing landscape, including policy responses and the influence of different stakeholders in this.
The program will comprise plenary sessions, symposia, panel discussions and poster presentations – including video posters.
The organizers say they are still accepting posters – including video posters – to be included in the exhibition area of the conference, with the closing date for abstracts being March 31. Abstracts can be submitted on-line, via the registration system at https://gfn.net.co/2017/abstracts.
June 15 is scheduled to include the Michael Russell oration, and satellite and side meetings, including one for consumers organised by the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organisations.
It will include, too, the first International Symposium on Nicotine Technology designed to showcase the latest technological advances in alternative nicotine delivery systems, next generation devices and the science behind them (http://isontech.info/).
British American Tobacco has proposed a five-step approach to establishing whether tobacco is being combusted or heated in devices described as ‘tobacco-heating products’ (THPs).
THPs are designed to heat rather than burn tobacco; so whereas the burning zone in a cigarette can reach temperatures of between 600 and 950 degrees C, in THPs the temperature is said to be hundreds of degrees lower. The THP temperature is high enough to release nicotine and flavorings but not so high as to result in the decomposition of the tobacco and the creation of high temperature smoke toxicants thought to be involved in the development of the serious diseases associated with smoking, BAT said in a press note issued to coincide with a presentation the company is making today at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco in Florence, Italy.
‘These products therefore produce fewer toxicants and have the potential to be significantly reduced risk compared to conventional cigarettes,’ BAT said.
‘Although various THPs are commercially available, they differ in the way they heat tobacco and in their temperature characteristics. Currently, there is no standard way of assessing whether a product is mainly heating rather than burning tobacco. So scientists at British American Tobacco have developed a five-step approach to comprehensively assess this aspect of a THP.’
Dr Chuan Liu, head of THP science at BAT, was quoted as saying that to ensure a THP product was producing an aerosol by heating and not burning tobacco, it was important to characterise its thermos-physical performance as fully as possible. “Our five-step approach provides a comprehensive yet practical assessment irrespective of the heating mechanism in the device.”
The method was given as:
Step 1: Measure changes in the physical and chemical properties of the tobacco (the type normally used in the device) as it is heated to THP operating temperatures.
Step 2: Using a thermocouple inserted into the tobacco, measure the maximum temperature the tobacco is heated to, and how long it is heated for when the THP is used.
Step 3: Analyse the levels of the following combustion products: CO, CO2, NO and NOx produced by the device when heating tobacco. (These are key markers for tobacco that is heated to high temperatures or burnt).
Step 4: Quantify emissions of a range of other known cigarette smoke toxicants potentially produced by the device.
Step 5: Examine the physical integrity of the tobacco rod after it has been heated in the device, to assess the extent of any degradation from heating to high temperatures or burning.
Registration for a US workshop examining safety concerns surrounding electronic-cigarette batteries is due to end on March 17.
In a press note, the Food and Drug Administration said that its Center for Tobacco Products was due to host a science-based public workshop to gather information and stimulate discussion on batteries used in electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), including electronic cigarettes.
‘In particular, CTP seeks to gather information about battery safety concerns (e.g., overheating, fire, explosion, other modes of failure), risk mitigation, and design parameters related to ENDS,’ the note said.
‘Additionally, information related to the communication from tobacco product manufacturers or importers to distributors, wholesalers, retailers, consumers, and the general public on battery-related safety concerns with the use of ENDS products will also be collected.’
The workshop is due to be held on April 19-20.
Registration by electronic or written request should be made no later than March 17.
Philip Morris International has been ranked 63rd on the European Patent Office’s (EPO) list of the top 100 patent applications for 2016.
In a note published on its website, PMI said that the list, which was published yesterday as part of the EPO’s Annual Report, did not include any other tobacco companies.
‘PMI is committed to a smoke-free future, where non-combustible alternatives replace cigarettes to the benefit of smokers, public health and society at large,’ the note said.
‘PMI’s patent portfolio includes over 1,800 patents granted and almost 4,000 pending applications published for intellectual property generated during the development of our smoke-free products. They include a wide range of innovations, such as technologies to precisely heat tobacco instead of burning it, new ways to heat liquids in e-cigarettes and manufacturing processes.’
Michele Cattoni, PMI’s vice president of technology and operations for smoke-free products was quoted as saying that developments in technology and science were key to PMI’s commitment to provide all adult smokers with a range of better alternatives to cigarettes. “Our scientists are inventing new ways to deliver a satisfying experience to smokers without burning tobacco,” he said. “Our patents are tangible evidence of our progress towards a smoke-free future, where cigarettes will be replaced by non-combustible products.”
PMI said that, since 2008, it had hired more than 400 scientists and experts and invested more than US$3 billion in research, product development and scientific substantiation for smoke-free products. It openly shared its scientific methodologies and findings for independent third-party review and verification, which was available on PMIScience.com. All research to date on its most advanced smoke-free product, IQOS, clearly indicated that it was likely to present less risk of harm than continued smoking. Over 1.4 million smokers had already fully switched to it.
Stricter rules for tobacco products mean new opportunities for manufacturers of acetate tow and special cigarette filters.
By Stefanie Rossel
When the world’s leading privately held cigarette manufacturer, Philip Morris International, calls for a smoke-free future, you know the outlook for conventional cigarettes is uncertain. In light of ever more stringent restrictions on smoking, increasing taxation and growing competition from cigarette alternatives, such as vapor devices, smoking prevalence in many markets has been falling.
After years of declining cigarette volumes in the U.S., Western Europe and Japan, 2015 marked another watershed: For the first time in 15 years, tobacco sales dropped even in China, which until then had been the world’s top growth market, making up for losses elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, the ongoing deterioration of cigarette sales has also impacted demand for cigarette components, among them acetate tow for filters.
Scott Ballard
According to IHS Markit, world consumption of cellulose acetate filter tow decreased between 2011 and 2016. “The industry utilization for acetate tow has moved down to around 80–85 percent due to a combination of demand drivers, inventory adjustments and new capacity coming online,” says Scott Ballard, vice president and general manager of the fibers business segment at Eastman, a global specialty chemical company based in the U.S.
“Utilization had been at high levels for an extended period of time, and the downward turn happened a bit faster than expected due to the convergence of these multiple factors at once.”
For many years, demand for filtered cigarettes was fueled by requirements for lower tar levels, which led to longer and denser filters, according to Perry Aliotti, vice president of global sales of cellulose derivatives at Celanese.
“Those trends have now peaked, and the China growth engine has begun what we believe will be a slow and steady decline, similar to [that in] the U.S. and Western Europe,” he says. “This demand shift, coupled with the addition of tow capacity in China, has reduced the tow-utilization percentage, despite idling of several assets.” In the coming years, Aliotti expects China’s demand for tow to decline at an annual rate of 1–2 percent. Demand in the rest of the world, he predicts, will drop by 3–4 percent per year.
Ballard points out that the development of the Chinese market has been harder to predict than that of other countries. “China tow purchases certainly moved down due to a more complex set of factors,” he says. “Positive population and filter-specification trends were offset by the typical erosion drivers you see in the rest of the world, as well as some factors unique to China, such as austerity measures and a substantial buildup of tow and cigarette inventory. After some of the drivers that are one-time events get behind us, we’ll get a better estimate of the longer-term trajectory in China.”
The Chinese market situation has also impacted demand for specialty filters. In November 2016, Essentra, a leading manufacturer of cigarette filters, cautioned investors that profit that year would be below expectations, partly due to weak Chinese demand. Patrick Meredith, Essentra’s innovation director, remains confident, though. “Though global demand for filters declined in 2016 due, in part, to de-stocking activity in China, we believe the market for specialty cigarette filters remains an opportunity.”
Filter tow suppliers are adjusting to lower volumes.
Individual needs
Adjusting to lower demand, Eastman in 2015 closed its Workington, U.K., acetate tow factory, which had An annual capacity of 24,000 metric tons. In June 2016, the company sold its share in Primester, a cellulose acetate flake joint venture in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA, to its partner, Solvay, an international chemical and advanced materials company headquartered in Brussels.
“After Eastman’s closure of the Workington plant and the sale of our interest of our acetate flake [joint venture], we are now at the appropriate balance between acetate flake and tow spinning,” says Ballard. “Due to the integration of our remaining assets into our Kingsport site, we really have no good options to further reduce capacity. Eastman’s strategy is to leverage our competency in cellulosics to develop a diverse set of applications to gradually offset the annual declines expected in the cigarette market. We look forward to being able to talk publicly about some of those very soon.”
Ballard stresses that it is vital to work with customers to understand the evolving environment. Suppliers, he says, must be prepared to support their client’s strategies and meet their requirements. “Most of our new tow specifications are driven by the specific needs of specific customers and less about broad market trends,” he says. “More broadly, we continue to see market interest in tow items that support slim and super-slim cigarette brands.” Despite the challenges, Ballard expects acetate tow to remain an important and attractive base business.
Indeed, despite the current slump related to shrinking cigarette consumption, the filter and tow sector still holds a lot of potential, thanks in part to increasingly rigid regulation. “Barring a big surprise like a reduction of bidi popularity in India or an increase in female smoking rates in Asia, we see opportunities coming mostly from changes in regulations,” says Aliotti. “Longer filters to control tar are always on the agenda. Novel filters that selectively remove one or more constituents of concern are a real possibility. Even the new heat-not-burn technology utilizes some filter material, but may require very unique specification changes to deliver the taste they’re seeking.”
Ever-stricter limitations on the marketing and packaging of tobacco products have left the cigarette in many markets as the last medium for tobacco manufacturers to differentiate their brands. As a result, filters are increasingly in the limelight, sporting special properties, shapes or tow colors.
“Filters are the first impression a consumer has when opening a pack,” says Aliotti. “Thus, filter quality, new technology, unique appearance and innovation are all means to communicate a message to the consumer. The market growth of hollow tube filters, which require heavier specialty tow items, is a great example. Although Celanese does not produce finished filters, we are partnering with machinery makers to understand the interaction between our tow specifications and the firmness and efficiency requirements of the equipment. From that work have come several new tow item offerings to meet the industry needs.”
“As stricter regulation is enforced, specialty filters will be ever more important as a point of brand differentiation,” confirms Meredith. “While there are clearly challenges to be overcome, we believe the strength in the specialty filter segments, such as tube and capsule filters, provides a strong basis for optimism. Through engaging in constant research and working closely with our partners on innovation and development, Essentra will continue to ensure that it remains market-relevant and provides the products and services our customers and the end consumers really want.”
The implementation of the revised EU Tobacco Products Directive in May 2016, along with the imminent introduction of plain packaging in the United Kingdom, France and Ireland, has prompted Essentra and other companies to explore new opportunities for product differentiation through specialty filters.
“Essentra has an extensive portfolio of specialty filters, ranging from colored and shaped cellulose acetate threads to filters with one or two capsules for added flavors,” says Meredith. “In particular, we have seen a rise in popularity for both our tube segment and capsule filters due to the consumer interaction they allow, either through the visual cue provided or the customization opportunity the capsule can provide.”
The company’s most recent innovation is in line with that trend: The TwinSense dual-segment filter has capsules in both segments.
As overall demand for cigarette filters declines, suppliers are detecting opportunities in specialty filters.
Booming niches
Another trend that requires a high level of expertise in tow manufacture is the rise of slim and super-slim cigarettes, which have become popular especially in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. “Demand for super-slim and even micro-slim tow items is booming,” says Aliotti. “Leading consumer markets like Korea, Japan and Russia are now being joined by China and many other Asian countries.”
In the 1980s, Celanese pioneered the development of super-slim tow for a Brown & Williamson brand called Capri. “During the research phase, we produced a standard-weight tow band then split it during rod making, using half and throwing half away,” says Aliotti. “We’ve come a long way from that period in our history.”
In 2016, Celanese patented its technology in ultra-high fiber-size, ultra-low total-weight tow items. “We now are offering a myriad of new tows customized to consumer needs for easy airflow and minimal filtration in these small cigarettes,” says Aliotti. “Our technical and manufacturing teams have also made large strides in the uniformity of these products and in their ability to process at high speeds.”
While the trend toward slimmer filters is believed to continue in many markets, simply slim sometimes doesn’t appear to be enough, as Meredith observes. “We are already seeing some markets introduce visually different, slimmer filters that incorporate a capsule as the manufacturers continue to push the boundaries of what can be possible to make their products stand out,” he says.
The acetate tow industry also benefits from the rising popularity of filter-capsule cigarettes. While still dwarfed by overall global cigarette consumption, which stood at 5.6 trillion sticks in 2015, according to Euromonitor data, the niche is growing quickly. In 2015, worldwide sales of filter capsule cigarettes accounted for 64 billion sticks, more than four times the volume in 2011. “Capsule filters place a different set of requirements on tow item selection,” explains Aliotti. “In these structures, tow must make room for the capsule to be firmly centered in the filter, but must still leave a path of easy airflow. Again, Celanese is offering new lower-pressure-drop tow items to meet industry needs. Overall, our portfolio of items has expanded significantly in recent years and will continue to do so.”
A new report proposes the immediate and accelerated implementation of three actions aimed at ending cigarette use by US adults.
* Increase excise taxes at the federal level and in many states with four goals: lowering smoking rates, harmonizing taxes across state borders to reduce the illegal trade, covering the costs of smoking-related disease, and encouraging a shift from cigarettes to reduced-risk products and complete cessation.
* Encourage health and life insurers, employers, and health professionals actively to promote smoking cessation measures supported by the US Preventive Services Task Force and the 2014 US Surgeon General’s Report.
* Establish a more rational tobacco, nicotine, and alternative products regulatory framework that is based on their relative risks, and that is adaptable to the increased speed of innovation in new technology development.
The report, Ending cigarette use by adults in a generation is possible, was the work of a team of tobacco control and health experts whose goal was to assess the views of 120 US tobacco control experts about what they saw as some of the key areas and priorities for significantly reducing or eliminating the use of the cigarette.
According to the report’s executive summary, each year cigarette smoking directly kills 480,000 Americans. ‘It also harms many millions more through secondary effects,’ it says. ‘The economic toll is enormous and costly, with an annual medical bill of over $170 billion. Yet, the public and media’s focus has largely shifted to other health issues. Mainstream tobacco control largely centers on measures to slow youth uptake, which will yield mortality and health gains, but will only reach its full impact 50 years from now.
‘There is an urgent need to accelerate progress to end cigarette smoking in adults. That requires fully implementing historically-validated tobacco control measures – especially tobacco taxes – and integrating new science-based reduced-risk products into tobacco control. Simultaneously, we need to pursue a long-term approach to nicotine that is coherent with, and proportionate to, the risks associated with other public health measures required to address psychoactive substances.
‘We consulted 120 key tobacco control leaders across the United States… They represent a broad swath of tobacco control experience and expertise, ranging from researchers and academics, to advocates, state and urban tobacco control staff, government officials, and local front-line workers. Their input is integrated into a proposed strategy to achieve the goal of reducing cigarette smoking in adults to less than 10 percent in all communities nationwide by 2024.
‘This is not a consensus report. We considered all inputs, and focus here on what represents the needed balance between what has worked to reduce smoking in the US, and additional steps that are now needed. These steps draw upon advances in technology and deeper insights into what drives behavior change.’
C.B. Kaymich is offering an upgrade to its hot-melt-tank filters.
The company says that its GT6 series of gravity hot melt tanks have been redesigned to provide improved filtration for gravity fed systems.
The new design eliminates contamination and eradicates blockages, which means there is no downtime.
‘In addition, the new 700µ strainer has a positive seat because it is screwed into place, facilitated by a new stop valve assembly which provides the mating thread,’ Kaymich said in a press note. ‘This eliminates the possibility of the operator replacing the strainer incorrectly after cleaning.’
Kaymich said it strived to make all new products futureproof, and that the new filtration system offered that futureproof capability.
“Second stage filtration can easily be added very simply at a later date, just by removing the strainer cap, inserting a 150µ cartridge and replacing the cap,” said MD Michael Bedford.
“This means that any investment now will not only serve to provide a greater quality product today but will also make the tank ready to be upgraded to a pumped system when the time arrives.”
Linx Printing Technologies is due to showcase its equipment and technologies at this year’s Interpack trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, on May 4-10.
In a press note, the company said that the highlights of its exhibit, on stand 11C58, Hall 11, would include the newest technological additions to the company’s continuous ink jet (CIJ) printers and laser coders, and examples from its thermal transfer, thermal inkjet and case coder ranges.
‘The full range of Linx laser coding solutions will be on display including the newly launched Linx CSL10 and CSL30,’ the company said.
‘These new coders have opened up the benefits of laser to more companies and applications.
‘Key benefits are even faster printing speeds over previous models and greater versatility – making the coders ideal for a wider variety of products – along with quicker and easier installation and set-up that help to make laser coding simpler and more accessible.’
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office lists on its website a patent application for a new “vaporizer” technology, filed by Apple in July 2016. The application describes a “chamber body” that can hold an unidentified substance to be vaporized or sublimated.
The patent application could possibly be used in the growing marijuana market.
Philip Morris International (PMI) will invest approximately €300 million ($323.72 million) to convert its Papastratos cigarette factory, in Greece, into a manufacturing facility for the tobacco sticks to be used with its IQOS tobacco-heating product. These tobacco sticks are currently commercialized as Heets or HeatSticks.
The organizers of the Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN) have announced at 
A new report proposes the immediate and accelerated implementation of three actions aimed at ending cigarette use by US adults.
