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  • BAT Closure Leading S. Africa to ‘Warehouse Economy’

    BAT Closure Leading S. Africa to ‘Warehouse Economy’

    The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) warned that South Africa is sliding toward a “warehouse economy” following British American Tobacco’s decision to shut its Heidelberg manufacturing plant and shift to imports. SAFTU General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said the closure would cost around 200 direct jobs and thousands more indirectly, arguing it reflects a broader pattern of deindustrialization as multinational companies scale back local production.

    SAFTU urged Parliament to halt the Tobacco Control Bill in its current form, warning it could further weaken legal tobacco manufacturers while strengthening illicit trade, which Vavi said already accounts for roughly 75% of cigarette sales. BAT cited rampant illegal cigarettes as a key factor behind the closure, noting that illicit trade has weighed on its South African operations and financial performance. SAFTU is calling for a full socioeconomic impact assessment of the bill, while BAT has pushed for stronger enforcement and a minimum retail price to curb illegal sales.

  • BAT CEO Talks Investment in Italy

    BAT CEO Talks Investment in Italy

    British American Tobacco CEO Tadeu Marroco was recently in Rome meeting with stakeholders, and spoke with Milano Finanza about how the company views Italy as a strategically important market, citing its stable regulatory and taxation framework, strong supplier base, and growing adoption of next-generation products, which now account for around 45% of BAT’s Italian revenue compared with 18% globally.

    “Italy represents one of the most strategic markets for BAT and [is] one of the countries in which the group can concretely realize its vision for the future,” he said. “From Italy, we continue to buy tobacco up to 15 thousand tons, which will be purchased in the three-year period 2026-2028, supporting over 400 small and medium-sized enterprises that employ 6,000 people.”

    Marroco said BAT is reinforcing its European innovation and production footprint through its Trieste Innovation Hub, where the company is investing €500 million through 2027 to expand non-combustible product manufacturing. The facility is expected to reach full capacity with 16 production lines and generate employment growth linked to BAT’s broader supply chain investments, including continued tobacco sourcing agreements supporting domestic agriculture and SMEs. The company maintains its target of deriving 50% of global revenue from smoke-free products by 2035, while also navigating regulatory complexity and illicit market growth in key regions, which BAT argues can hinder innovation and undermine public health and fiscal outcomes.

  • BAT Japan Launching Two New Velo Flavors

    BAT Japan Launching Two New Velo Flavors

    BAT Japan is set to expand its Velo nicotine pouch lineup with two new flavors: Velo Smooth Peppermint Medium and Velo Breezy Mango Intense. Smooth Peppermint Medium, aimed at beginners, offers a sweet peppermint aroma with a light cooling effect at 4 mg nicotine strength, while Breezy Mango Intense features tropical notes of mango, passion fruit, and orange at 6 mg strength for a stronger experience. Both products come in 15-pouch cans priced at 360 yen ($2.30) and will be available from February 2, through the official glo and Velo online store, glo Store Ginza, and nationwide tobacco retailers, with trial initiatives offered at select outlets and online.

  • BAT Named Global Top Employer for 9th Straight Year

    BAT Named Global Top Employer for 9th Straight Year

    BAT announced it has been named a Global Top Employer for the ninth consecutive year by the Top Employers Institute, also earning Top Employer certification across five regions and a record 44 countries worldwide. BAT says the recognition highlights its best-in-class employment practices, commitment to employee development, inclusion and wellbeing, and its ability to align people strategy globally while delivering locally relevant experiences. Chief People Officer Cora Koppe-Stahrenberg said the achievement reflects BAT’s continued investment in its people and culture as it transforms its business, while Top Employers Institute CEO Adrian Seligman praised BAT’s sustained excellence and global workforce resilience.

  • Tobacco Companies Funding €1.1M to Clean Portugal’s Litter

    Tobacco Companies Funding €1.1M to Clean Portugal’s Litter

    Portuguese municipalities will receive €1.1 million a year from the tobacco industry in 2026 and 2027 to help offset the cost of cleaning discarded cigarette butts from public spaces, under a new government decree. Lisbon will receive the largest allocation, €41,153, while the smallest payment of €325 will go to Alvito. The figures apply to mainland Portugal, with allocations for the autonomous regions still to be determined. According to Jornal de Negócios, the decree sets out for the first time mandatory financial contributions from tobacco producers, calculated according to four territorial categories: urban, semi-urban, rural, and beach areas.

    The payments are based on a proposal by Único – Associação de Gestão de Plásticos de Uso Único, a non-profit body licensed since late 2024 to operate Portugal’s first extended producer responsibility system for waste from filtered tobacco products. Único, whose members include BAT, Imperial Brands, JTI, Landewick, Tabaqueira, and Electrão, said the reform makes companies financially accountable for tobacco-related litter. Beyond funding, producers are also expected to support measures to reduce improper disposal, including public awareness campaigns. The decree further requires Único to submit a national study on urban cleaning waste in 2026, in line with EU guidelines, to help determine whether current cost estimates should be revised under existing European legislation that obliges tobacco producers to finance the clean-up and management of discarded filtered products.

  • Korea Health Insurance Loses Appeal Against Tobacco Cos.

    Korea Health Insurance Loses Appeal Against Tobacco Cos.

    South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) lost its appeal seeking compensation from major tobacco companies after the Seoul High Court upheld a lower court ruling in favor of KT&G, Philip Morris Korea, and British American Tobacco Korea today (January 15). The court agreed that NHIS lacked legal standing to claim damages, ruling that insurance payouts made to smokers with cancer merely fulfilled statutory obligations and did not constitute a legally protected interest that could support a compensation claim.

    The lawsuit, originally filed in 2014, sought 55.3 billion won ($37.6 million) to recover health insurance costs for smoking-related lung and laryngeal cancer patients, arguing tobacco firms should be held liable for the financial burden imposed on the public health system. Both the lower and appellate courts rejected claims that cigarettes were defectively designed or misleadingly marketed, and found that smoking was not the sole cause of cancer. While acknowledging the growing medical costs linked to smoking—estimated at 3.8 trillion won ($2.6 billion) annually by 2023—the appellate court ordered NHIS to bear appeal costs. NHIS said it plans to take the case to the Supreme Court, framing the issue as one of public health accountability and constitutional social rights.

  • BAT to Shut Down Only South African Plant

    BAT to Shut Down Only South African Plant

    BAT South Africa (BATSA) announced it will cease local production of factory-manufactured cigarettes and close its sole manufacturing facility in Heidelberg, Gauteng, by the end of 2026, citing the overwhelming growth of illicit cigarettes in the market. The company estimates that illegal products now account for about 75% of cigarette sales in South Africa, rendering local manufacturing commercially unviable. The plant is currently operating at just 35% of capacity due to sustained volume losses linked to the illicit trade.

    “We have tried everything to ensure we don’t have to close this facility, which has been a part of the Heidelberg community since 1975, including implementing various efficiency initiatives over the years,” said Johnny Moloto, head of corporate and regulatory affairs at BAT Sub-Saharan Africa.  “But when three-quarters of your market is illicit, there’s a limit to what any company can do. We’ve reached that limit.”

    BATSA said the closure will directly affect approximately 230 employees and their families and will also have knock-on effects across the local value chain, including suppliers, logistics providers, and contractors in the Lesedi community. The company has initiated a formal consultation process with employees and unions in line with labor law and expects this process to conclude by the end of March 2026, ahead of the full shutdown later in the year. Despite the closure, BATSA stressed it is not exiting South Africa and will transition to an import-based supply model to continue serving adult consumers.

    The company said it has spent more than a decade engaging with government and law-enforcement authorities, warning that policy decisions such as the 2020 tobacco sales ban, above-inflation excise increases, and proposed new tobacco legislation have widened the gap between legal and illegal products. BATSA argued that enforcement efforts have been insufficient to protect legitimate businesses and jobs, with illicit cigarettes costing an estimated R28 billion ($1.7 billion) a year in lost tax revenue. BATSA also warned that illicit trade is increasingly affecting other sectors, including alcohol, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods.

    The growth of illicit trade accelerated after a Covid-era ban on tobacco sales in 2020, from which BATSA says the legal market never recovered. BATSA said it could reconsider local manufacturing if there is sustained progress in curbing illicit trade but cautioned that proposed new tobacco legislation and rising excise duties risk further worsening the problem.

  • BAT to Cut 59% of Jobs from Belgium Facility

    BAT to Cut 59% of Jobs from Belgium Facility

    Yesterday morning (January 14) at a special works council meeting, BAT Belgium announced plans to cut up to 51 of its 87 jobs at its Groot-Bijgaarden facility as part of a proposed restructuring driven by mounting regulatory and economic pressures, according to Retail Detail. The company said it has initiated a collective redundancy procedure, with 48 of the 74 roles in its commercial unit and three of 13 positions in other departments potentially affected, subject to consultations with social partners.

    According to BAT, increasing regulation, bans on certain nicotine products, rising excise duties, and the expansion of the illegal tobacco market have led to a sustained erosion of revenue and weighed heavily on business performance. The company said the restructuring aims to create a more efficient and agile organization in response to these challenges.

  • British American Tobacco Share Buyback Update

    British American Tobacco Share Buyback Update

    According to Tip Ranks, British American Tobacco repurchased 146,615 of its ordinary shares yesterday (January 5) under its shareholder-approved buyback program, paying a volume-weighted average price of 4,101.38 pence per share. The company plans to cancel the repurchased shares, reducing its outstanding ordinary shares with voting rights to 2,179,187,085 while maintaining 132,988,352 shares in treasury. The move is expected to slightly enhance earnings per share and signals continued capital return discipline to shareholders.

  • BAT Malaysia Designates New Chairman

    BAT Malaysia Designates New Chairman

    British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd redesignated Datuk Sri Mohd Nizom Sairi as chairman of the board, effective January 1, 2026. He succeeds Tan Sri Aseh Che Mat, who will step down on December 31, after completing the maximum nine-year tenure as an independent non-executive director under the group’s governance rules.

    Mohd Nizom was appointed as an independent non-executive director of BAT Malaysia on October 1. He previously spent 38 years with the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia, serving as CEO and director general from 2021 until his retirement from public service in December 2023. He currently serves as independent non-executive chairman of Varia Bhd and as an independent non-executive director of Jati Tinggi Group Bhd.