Tag: Featured

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Scientists Urge Caution With Smoking-and-Covid Claims

Image by maja7777 from Pixabay
Recent studies that have found a disproportionally low number of smokers among Covid-19 patients have not provided direct evidence that smoking is protective against the illness, according to Health Feedback, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to science education.
Claims that smoking might protect against Covid-19 have been reported in several media outlets and are currently going viral, with more than 410,000 interactions on Facebook in April 2020.
However, the Health Feedback scientists point out several problems with findings. A French study, for example, did not appropriately factor in comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension, which can also adversely affect the clinical course of Covid-19, according to the Health Feedback scientists.
“While the preprint did report the prevalence of such conditions within the combined study cohort of inpatients and outpatients, it did not report age or disease prevalence according to smoking status,” they wrote. “It is therefore unclear whether the nonsmoking group comprised more older individuals and/or those with preexisting health conditions than the other, which might have influenced the results.”
Other studies showed similar shortcomings, according to the Health Feedback scientists.
While acknowledging that the findings of disproportionally low numbers of smokers among Covid-19 patients are interesting and deserving of further investigation, the Health Feedback scientists say it would be unwise to begin smoking based on unproven claims that it might protect against Covid-19.

May 4, 2020
Industry Threatens Lawsuit Over Tobacco Ban Extension

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
The tobacco industry is threatening legal action after South Africa reversed a decision to end its ban on the sale of tobacco products.
To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the government earlier this year suspended sales of cigarettes. The ban was scheduled to end on May 1, but on Wednesday, the government suddenly reversed course after it received 2,000 requests to keep the measure in place.
Retailers had placed thousands of orders for cigarette and vapor products ahead of the anticipated lifting of the ban.
Smokers across the country fumed, with an online petition garnering close to half a million signatures by May 1.
British American Tobacco (BAT) South Africa complained that, unlike the ban’s supporters, the tobacco industry, retailers and tobacco consumers were not given an opportunity to comment on the proposed reinstatement of the ban.
“This was grossly unfair and unlawful,” said BAT, adding that the online petition of more than 400,000 in favor of lifting the ban dwarfed the 2,000 individual submissions.
Meanwhile, the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association said it was confident of overturning the ban, having decided to proceed with legal action after the government’s backtrack.
“We had a meeting with our legal team, and the decision was unanimous, and we will be proceeding with the legal steps,” said chairperson Sinenhlanhla Mnguni.
Shadrack Sibisi, chairperson of the South Africa Tobacco Transformation Alliance, which represents black emerging tobacco farmers, said the continued ban would impact more than 8,000 workers and 30,000 dependents.
“Our losses are huge. From March 27 until today, we have sold nothing,” he said. “We harvested in early January and were ready to go, but then lockdown happened. We have been sitting with boxes ready, and now with the recent rains we are going to have to redry and repackage. The tobacco still needs to be processed.”
Others applauded the government’s decision to continue the tobacco sales ban, saying that health considerations supersede commercial interests. “While the right of the individual is important, when we are facing a crisis that poses a danger to society, the rights of the collective to health must take precedence,” said Professor Pamela Naidoo of the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
May 4, 2020
Sampoerna Suspends Operations After Covid Deaths

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Indonesian cigarette manufacturer Sampoerna temporarily closed a cigarette factory in East Java after two workers died of the coronavirus, reports The Straits Times, citing local authorities in Jakarta.
Two of the company’s laborers who worked in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, died on April 14 and tested positive for Covid-19. Nine fellow workers who showed symptoms later were sent to a hospital for treatment, local media reported.
As many as 323 workers who did not show symptoms underwent rapid tests and 63 of them had positive results, state news agency Antara reported.
With some 26,000 workers, Sampoerna is the biggest cigarette producer in Indonesia, where about 60 percent of the male population are smokers. The company is 92.5 percent owned by Philip Morris International.
The factory’s closure is unlikely to affect the company’s total production as Sampoerna has cigarette factories in several other locations.
Indonesia has 10,100 Covid-19 confirmed cases, with 792 deaths as of April 30—the highest number of coronavirus fatalities in South-east Asia.
May 1, 2020
High Rejections Mar Chinkhoma Market

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Tama Farmers Trust president Abel Kalima Banda called for an emergency meeting of all stakeholders following high tobacco rejections at the Chinkhoma auction floors in Kasungu, Malawi.
As of Wednesday, the rejection rate was hovering at 59 percent, according to The Nyasa Times.
However, auction floors officials are attributing this to a new auction system which they call secret bidding.
They say things will be back to normal when tobacco farmers and officials get used to the new system.
As of Wednesday, tobacco on auction was fetching $1.50 per kg whilst contract tobacco was fetching $2.50 per kg.
May 1, 2020
Zimbabwe: First Bale Fetches $4 per Kilo

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Zimbabwe’s 2020 tobacco marketing season opened Wednesday, April 29, with the first bale selling at $4 per kg, reports The Herald.
Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri opened the selling season at Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF) at a ceremony witnessed by his deputies—Vangelis Haritatos and Douglas Karoro—Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) officials, farmers’ unions, merchants and farmers.
Tobacco is largely funded through private contractors and loans, and tobacco farmers are considered among the most skilled in Zimbabwe, hence the calls for them to expand operations into other crops and for other farmers to emulate their skills.
Last year, the first bale sold at $4.50 per kg, and 259 million kilograms were delivered.
April 30, 2020
Methods for Lower Nicotine Validated

Photo: Matt Mullen
22nd Century Group and North Carolina State University (NCSU), have completed successful research field trials that have validated new non-GMO methodologies for reducing nicotine in tobacco plants. The research was partially funded by 22nd Century and was conducted by NCSU’s Department of Crop and Soil Science with project oversight provided by 22nd Century’s R&D team.
The research findings and paper can be viewed here.
As an alternative to older, genetic-engineering technologies that result in the creation of plants regulated as GMOs, the NCSU researchers used newer, non-CRISPR, non-GMO, gene editing technologies to consistently achieve reductions in nicotine levels by as much as 99 percent, when compared to conventional tobacco plants. This reduction in nicotine levels is believed to be caused by the inactivation of several genes believed to encode for enzymes involved in nicotine biosynthesis in the plant. 22nd Century has earlier filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to secure intellectual property rights for this non-GMO genetic approach that achieves very low nicotine content (VLNC) levels in tobacco plants using non-GMO methodologies.
“We are very pleased with the outcome of the research field trials completed in collaboration with NCSU, which demonstrate that non-GMO methodologies can be applied reliably to reduce nicotine levels in tobacco plants by up to 99 percent,” said Juan Sanchez Tamburrino, vice president of research and development for 22nd Century. “To further validate our research, 22nd Century and NCSU will conduct larger scale and more extensive field trials in additional geographies.”
The additional field trials will test these new, non-GMO, VLNC tobacco lines in multiple locations and soil conditions, allowing 22nd Century to select VLNC tobacco plants for optimal performance in different locations.
“This research marks a key milestone in 22nd Century’s reduced nicotine content tobacco R&D program and further extends our product development opportunities by enabling the creation of VLNC tobacco plants of many varieties, including bright, burley and oriental tobaccos,” said Michael Zercher, 22nd Century’s president and chief operating officer. “This non-GMO technology is also key to commercializing our VLNC tobacco cigarettes in international markets where non-GMO products are important. We are pleased with our R&D team’s progress and excited about this unique technology developed in collaboration with NCSU.”
April 30, 2020
BAT Resilient in Uncertain Times

Photo: British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco (BAT) has achieved all its 2019 financial targets, according to a company press release.
The company has consistently delivered on its high single-figure constant currency earnings growth target and continues to maintain this guidance for 2020, BAT wrote in its statement.
The beginning of 2020 has seen continued volume and value share growth of 40 basis points and 20 basis points, respectively; positive volume growth; and strong price mix with pricing in line with the company’s plan.
Despite the coronavirus outbreak, most BAT factories are open and operating at full capacity. The company has built up an average stock of about two months of finished goods with further stock throughout its wholesale and retail footprint. About 75 percent of BAT’s global revenue is in developed markets where distribution and availability are largely unchanged.
In a small number of markets where mandated by governments, the company’s combustibles manufacturing facilities have faced limited periods of shutdown. To date, though, BAT has seen limited impact on consumer demand, pricing or consumers’ ability to access products. Sales in global travel retail have been significantly impacted, although this represents less than 1 percent of the company’s sales. Only a few governments have restricted the sale of cigarettes in their countries.
BAT is anticipating a reduction in trade and consumer stocks and some effect on industry volume and revenue growth in the second quarter of 2020. This, together with some delayed launches in new categories, means results are expected to be weighted to the second half.
The company expects constant currency adjusted revenue growth around the low end of the 3 percent to 5 percent range in fiscal 2020 and continued progress toward the company’s 2023–2024 ambition of £5 billion ($6.2 billion) in revenue in new categories.
April 30, 2020
Revenue Up, Operating Profit Down at JT

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Japan Tobacco’s revenue increased by 2.8 percent to ¥519.6 billion ($4.9 billion) in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same quarter in 2019.
Operating profit decreased by 29.4 percent to ¥129 billion.
“Our consolidated first quarter results were strong, driven by robust growth in the international tobacco business, which had a strong first quarter and significant favorable pricing gains compared to the previous year,” said Masamichi Terabatake, president and CEO of the JT Group. “As of the first quarter, there was limited impact to our business following the Covid-19 outbreak.
“We are not revising the 2020 forecast. Given that the global impacts of Covid-19 are becoming prevalent from April onwards, we will continue to closely monitor how the pandemic and the currency headwinds impact our business and financials.”

April 30, 2020
Altria Withdraws Full Year Guidance

Photo: Altria
Altria Group announced strong performance from its core tobacco segments in the first quarter of 2020, even as it withdrew its full year 2020 adjusted diluted EPS guidance and 2020–2022 adjusted diluted EPS growth objective due to Covid-19 uncertainty.
The company’s net revenue was up by 13 percent in the first quarter of 2020 over the same period last year.
“The first quarter brought out the best in Altria’s employees as we navigated the dynamic tobacco environment and the unprecedented effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Billy Gifford, Altria’s CEO. “We’ve approached these challenges together by focusing on the health and welfare of our employees, maintaining business continuity and supporting our communities.”
“We had an excellent start to the year, growing our first quarter adjusted diluted EPS by 18.5 percent, driven by the strength of our smokeable and oral tobacco products segments. Due to the uncertainties related to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our diverse business model and economic recovery scenarios, we’re withdrawing our full-year 2020 adjusted diluted EPS guidance and, as a result, we’re also withdrawing our compounded annual adjusted diluted EPS growth objective. We’re continuing to assess the Covid-19 situation and intend to reestablish guidance at the appropriate time.”
“Our dividend is important to our investors and it remains a top priority for us. Our objective continues to be a dividend payout ratio target of approximately 80 percent of adjusted diluted EPS. For 2020, we expect to recommend a quarterly dividend rate to our board that reflects, among other things, our strong cash generation and the strength of our balance sheet.”
April 30, 2020
Juul to Cut a Third of Its Workforce

Photo: steheap
Juul Labs plans to cut a third of its workforce, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The cuts come after a slew of regulatory issues, lawsuits and falling market share but are not related to the coronavirus epidemic. Between 800 employees and 950 employees will lose their jobs under the restructuring plan.
“As part of our ongoing reset, we are constantly evaluating our operations and the best way to position our company for the long,” a Juul spokesman said.
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April 30, 2020