Smoking is down but vaping is up among Indonesian minors, reports The Jakarta Globe, citing a recent health survey.
According to the Indonesian Health Survey (SKI), the prevalence of smoking among 10-18-year-olds decreased to 7.4 percent in 2023, down from 9.1 percent recorded in the 2018 Basic Health Research.
However, the figure is still higher than the 7.2 percent prevalence in 2013 and the 5.4 percent target set in the 2015-2019 National Medium-Term Development Plan, noted Eva Susanti, director of non-communicable disease prevention and control at the Health Ministry during a World No Tobacco Day media briefing in Jakarta on May 29.
Minors’ use of e-cigarettes, meanwhile, increased from 0.06 percent in 2018 to 0.13 percent in 2023.
The Health Ministry is intensifying efforts to prevent children from smoking or vaping. This includes banning the consumption of tobacco and e-cigarettes by children and pregnant women, prohibiting tobacco advertising on social media, and outlawing the sale of single cigarettes.
Ivan Cahyadi, the new president director of Sampoerna, emphasized the company’s commitment to human capital development during a May 14 media meeting reported by The Jakarta Post.
Celebrating its 111th anniversary, Sampoerna prioritizes human capital as crucial for business sustainability and societal well-being in Indonesia. Cahyadi, who began his career at Sampoerna in 1996, credits the company’s development programs for his rise to leadership. Sampoerna’s policy of job rotation and training across various departments enabled him to understand the business comprehensively.
Sampoerna’s human capital initiatives include job rotation, overseas assignments and training, fostering an inclusive environment irrespective of ethnic or cultural backgrounds, according to Cahyadi. This approach has positioned Indonesians among global scientists and experts in innovative tobacco products. The company also operates advanced laboratories in Karawang and Pasuruan, enhancing local talent’s potential.
Cahyadi highlighted Sampoerna’s support for traditional retailers through the Sampoerna Retail Community program, which aids 250,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME), boosting their competitiveness and economic impact.
Additionally, the Sampoerna Entrepreneurship Training Center has trained over 72,000 MSME players in various business skills. Emphasizing gender balance, Ivan noted that women represent 46 percent of department heads. Sampoerna’s commitment to human capital aligns with its “Three Hands” philosophy, aiming to advance Indonesia collectively through sustainable business practices.
KT&G CEO Kyung-man Bang participated in groundbreaking ceremonies for the South Korean tobacco company’s second and third factories in Surabaya, Indonesia, on April 26.
According to a company press release, Bang also visited KT&G’s Asia-Pacific headquarters in Jakarta during his trip, which was his first visit to an overseas business operation since assuming the top position at KT&G.
Spanning approximately 190,000 square meters, KT&G’s second and third factories in Indonesia are set to commence operations in 2026. The combined production capacity of the factories is projected to reach 21 billion cigarette sticks per year. KT&G plans to make Indonesia its largest global production base, with an annual production capacity (including existing factory capacity) of 35 billion cigarettes, and focus on global market expansion.
“We have been committed to delivering and accelerating our mid-[term] to long-term vision of becoming a global top-tier company by executing vigorous investment strategies and leading bold innovations,” said Bang during the ceremony.
“Indonesia serves as our primary global export hub, driving the expansion of our export business in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East markets. We will continue to develop the global production hub in Indonesia as a core growth engine for the company,” Bang added.
To accelerate its global expansion, KT&G recently separated its Asia-Pacific headquarters and Eurasia headquarters from the company, establishing them into separate business entities.
Net profit of Sampoerna grew 28 percent to IDR8.1 trillion ($501.11 million) in 2023. With shipments of 83.4 billion cigarettes, the company remained the undisputed leader in Indonesia, claiming a market share of 28.6 percent.
“2023 marked a year of return to robust profitable growth, with Sampoerna reaching significant milestones for advancing scientifically substantiated smoke-free products, increasing its investment and employment in Indonesia, and generating strong multiplier effects, in line with the country’s priority to enhance down-streaming.” said Sampoerna President Director Vassilis Gkatzelis in a statement.
Sampoerna’s performance was driven in part by the recovery of the hand-rolled kretek cigarette (SKT) segment in Indonesia. After declining for many years, its share rose from 17 percent of overall tobacco sales in 2019 to 28 percent in 2023, boosted by the government’s favorable tax treatment of this labor-intensive sector.
In early 2024, Sampoerna added SKT production facilities and third-party operators, creating employment for tens of thousands of new workers.
The company has also been developing its smoke-free portfolio in Indonesia. In 2023, the company inaugurated a dedicated factory in Karawang, near Jakarta, which supplies both the domestic market and customers in the Asia Pacific region.
In the Jakarta urban area, the company’s IQOS tobacco-heating product reached a market share of 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, an increase of 2 points from the fourth quarter of 2022.
To date, Sampoerna has invested $300 million in smoke-free products in Indonesia.
Sampoerna opened a new third-party operator (TPO) factory for hand-rolled kretek cigarettes (SKT) in Jaten, Central Java, Indonesia, on March 27.
Owned and operated by Attin Sigaret Indonesia, Jaten facility employs approximately 2,000 people.
During the inauguration ceremony, Directorate General of Customs and Excise Representative Iyan Rubiyanto lauded the anticipated economic impact of the new factory.
“We hope that the opening of this TPO will continue to absorb workforce and create a multiplier effect on the surrounding economy,” he was quoted as saying. “The sustainability of the industry is among the focus of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, Ministry of Finance. Therefore, let’s maintain economic sustainability as a positive impact of the SKT industry.”
Following a period of sustained decline, the SKT segment started recovering in 2020 after the government started supporting the segment in an effort to boost employment. Partially as a result of its measures, the SKT’s share of the tobacco market increased from 17 percent in 2019 to 28 percent in 2023.
“On behalf of Sampoerna and tens of thousands of SKT hand-rollers, I would like to express my gratitude for the concern and support of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, which represents the central government, in ensuring the sustainability of the tobacco industry, including protecting the SKT labor-intensive sector through various policies,” said Sampoerna Director Elvira Lianita in a statement.
TPO Jaten is one of five new TPOs that officially started operations in the first quarter of 2024. It complements Sampoerna’s other new SKT partnerships in Cilacap, Purwodadi, and Kebumen Regencies in Central Java, as well as Bojonegoro Regency in East Java.
Sampoerna now has partnerships with 43 TPOs, all of which are owned and operated by local entrepreneurs and/or local cooperatives. The company now employs, directly and indirectly, more than 90,000 people, about 90 percent of whom are working in SKT production facilities.
Gudang Garam plans to construct a toll road in East Java, reports The Jakarta Globe
In a public filing on Tuesday, 13 Feb 2024, the company said it had recently established a subsidiary, Surya Sapta Agung Tol, to construct a toll road connecting Kediri and Tulungagung, with an initial capital of IDR3.5 trillion ($223.6 million).
Gudang Garam owns 99.9 of Surya Sapta, with Suryaduta Investama owning the remaining 0.1 percent. Suryaduta is a majority shareholder in Gudang Garam, controlling a 69.29 percent stake in the cigarette company.
Both Gudang Garam and Surya Sapta are based in Kediri, approximately 150 kilometers west of Surabaya.
The toll road is Gudang Garam’s second infrastructure project, following the recent completion of a small airport in Kediri. Although Dhoho Kediri Airport opened to the public earlier this month, it is not yet fully operational.
Sampoerna and Koperasi Karyawan Redrying Bojonegoro have opened a new third-party operator (TPO) production facility for hand-rolled kretek cigarettes in Dander, Bojonegoro Regency, East Java.
During the inauguration ceremony, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa welcomed the investment and its impact on regional employment. “I hope MPS Dander will improve the welfare of not only its employees but also their families and the community in Bojonegoro. Amidst the digital ecosystem transformation era, the SKT industry and TPOs can be a solution, especially for workforce absorption,” she said in a statement.
“The multiplier effect of the SKT industry is extraordinary. I believe that TPO Dander will strengthen the economy of Bojonegoro Regency,” said Khofifah.
Khofifah also expressed satisfaction with the high level of female participation in the facility’s workforce. “Because women who have their own income will become mothers of the nation,” she noted. “Therefore, the recruitment of women as workers at TPO Dander affirms women’s participation in development.”
Sampoerna’s head of hand-rolled manufacturing, Sinta Hartanto, said his firm was committed to continued value creation. “As a company that has been operating for more than 110 years in Indonesia, our vision is to continue playing an active role in supporting the growth of the national economy by encouraging down-streaming in the tobacco industry, long-term investments, and workforce absorption to create sustainable value. This additional partnership is part of our efforts to realize that vision,” he said.
With the absorption of more than 3,000 workers in TPO Dander along with additional absorptions in various other factories and TPOs, Sampoerna currently has more than 80,000 direct and indirect employees, about 90 percent of whom are working in SKT production facilities.
“In addition to new partnerships with local entrepreneurs/cooperatives, as well as opening new employment opportunities for thousands of workers, Sampoerna’s new SKT manufacturing facilities and additional TPOs will also increase raw materials absorption of tobacco and clove from Indonesian farmers. Hand-rolled cigarettes require twice as much tobacco and cloves as machine-made cigarettes,” explained Sinta.
TPS Dander that is owned by Koperasi Kareb became the 39th TPO in Java and the fourth in Bojonegoro Regency that partners with Sampoerna. All TPOs are owned and operated by local entrepreneurs and/or local cooperatives to produce Sampoerna’s SKT brands. Sampoerna operates seven production facilities in several cities/regencies in Java, including four SKT production facilities in Surabaya, Malang, and Probolinggo, East Java.
Home to an infinite number of tobacco varieties, Indonesia is among the world’s most diverse leaf origins.
By Taco Tuinstra
Forget Zimbabwe. Forget Brazil. If you want to understand Indonesian leaf tobacco, you may gain more insights by studying at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the fictional magical boarding school in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, where nothing is what it seems. At least, that was the advice one aspiring leaf trader received upon arrival in the archipelago. His mentor was joking, of course, but the analogy isn’t entirely frivolous: The baffling Indonesian market is not the easiest place to start your career in leaf tobacco. Unraveling its mysteries takes time and dedication.
In 2022, Indonesia’s growers harvested 225.58 million kg of leaf, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, but it’s not the volume that is likely to confound the trainee. Rather, it’s the seemingly endless variety of tobaccos. Whereas the novice in Zimbabwe or Brazil will be learning about one or two internationally recognized tobacco types, his counterpart in Indonesia will have to memorize a bewildering list of local names and regional variations, many of them unique to the island nation.
Indonesia is home to a seemingly unlimited number of tobaccos. AOI’s team alone procures 17 different tobacco varieties across Java, Madura and Lombok.
“You may have one seed variety that’s cured, grown and handled under very similar practices—but if it’s from a different area, it will have a different name,” explains Michael Green, country manager at Alliance One International (AOI), which procures 17 different tobacco varieties across Java, Madura and Lombok. Likewise, a seed planted on one side of a mountain will yield a very different tobacco than its identical counterpart sown on the other side.
That may have something to do with Indonesia’s size and topographical variety. Sprawling across three time zones and at least 17,000 islands, the country boasts majestic highlands, lush rainforests and barren volcanic landscapes, among other features. Projected onto a map of the United States, Indonesia’s extremities would extend 1,000 km from the mainland into the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, respectively.
Yet leaf tobacco production is concentrated in a relatively small region of this vast nation: Flue-cured Virginia on the islands of Lombok and Bali, burley in the Lumajang regency of East Java and dark fire-cured tobaccos in Central Java’s Klaten and Boyalali regencies. In addition, there are countless sun-cured varieties, which are typically named after the region where they are grown. Prominent sun-cured tobaccos include Jatim and Kasturi. Many of these are used to manufacture Indonesian clove cigarettes (kretek), although Kasturi is also exported to the European Union and the United States, where it is used in chewing tobaccos.
Indonesia projected on map of the United States
Among foreign tobacco buyers, Indonesia has historically been known for the dark air-cured tobaccos cultivated in East Java. With a volume of 8 million kg in a good year, the largest of these is Besuki Na Oogst (NO), which means “late harvest” in Dutch, the language of Indonesia’s former colonial rulers. Besuki NO is widely employed in machine-made cigars as well as in the bobbins used in the manufacturing of such cigars.
In addition, there is Besuki Tembakau Bawah Naungan (TBN), or “tobacco under sheet,” in Bahasa Indonesia, the country’s lingua franca. This plant was developed in the 1970s and 1980s and is grown under shade for cigar wrappers. The reduced exposure to direct sunlight results in thinner and more elastic leaves, which not only facilitates handling but also contributes to a smoother smoking experience. Shade-grown tobaccos are typically more uniform in appearance than sun-grown varieties, with fewer blemishes and imperfections—and thus highly valued by premium cigar manufacturers. A crossbreed of the Besuki and Connecticut styles, TBN is among the world’s most expensive wrappers on the market today.
Indonesian dark air-cured tobaccos also include Vorstenlanden and Sumatra. Interestingly, the famous Sumatra cigar wrappers that were originally derived from seeds native to the eponymous Indonesian island are now cultivated primarily in Central America.
Indonesia’s largest tobacco product by far, however, is Rajangan cut rag, which accounts for up to 70 percent of the country’s total leaf production volume. Rajangan is widely deployed in kretek production, with individual varieties named after the region where they are produced. Unlike the cut rag produced elsewhere, Rajangan tobaccos are cut while they are still green and then dried in direct sunlight on mats. Ranging in color from lemon to brown, this product may remind some Western visitors of the straw used to decorate Easter baskets.
Shadegrown tobaccos are typically more uniform tin appearance than sun-grown varieties, with fewer blemishes and imperfections–and thus highly valued by cigar manufacturers.
Multiple Players
Contrary to the situation in many other leaf origins, where growers cultivate tobacco primarily for exports, at least 70 percent of the tobacco planted in Indonesia is smoked locally. With an annual consumption of nearly 300 billion sticks, according to TMA, Indonesia is not only one of the world’s largest cigarette markets, but it is also a unique place in terms of taste preferences, with kreteks outselling white cigarettes by a factor of 10. Despite the efforts of some multinationals to steer Indonesian smokers toward “international” cigarettes, the transition from dark tobaccos to blond tobaccos that occurred in southern Europe and elsewhere never took place in the archipelago.
Numerous leaf merchants, serving both domestic and foreign customers, operate throughout the archipelago. Aside from AOI, whose footprint stretches from Central Java to Lombok and includes a processing factory in Mojokerto, there are well-known players such as Universal (known as Universal Tempu Rejo locally), Premium Tobacco and Hail & Cotton, which goes by the name Mayangsari in Indonesia. In addition, the country has multiple home-grown players, including Sadhana and Mangli Djaya Raya (MDR).
Sadhana was established by former Sampoerna executives after the 2004 sale of their company to Philip Morris International. The leaf dealer exclusively supplies Sampoerna, which has evolved into the cigarette market leader since becoming part of the multinational. MDR is a privately owned Indonesian operator, established in 1960 and acquired in 2007 by Njoto Permadi. Today, the business is run by his son, Christian A. Njoto Njoo. MDR is the only company with a redrying facility in Jember, the heart of Indonesia’s dark air-cured tobacco business in East Java. Since 2009, MDR has also had a dedicated cigar business, manufacturing products for both the domestic market and the international market.
Steeped in Tradition
Tobacco cultivation is a massive, labor-intensive business in Indonesia, involving as many as half a million growers. Averaging between 0.25 ha and 0.5 ha, plots tend to be small and scattered. Farmers either grow under contract with one of the leaf merchants or sell their produce on the open market through middlemen. Contract growing provides buyers with a high degree of oversight of the production process. By providing their farmers with the appropriate crop protection agents (CPAs), personal protective equipment, inputs and knowledge of good agricultural practices, the leaf merchants ensure that tobacco meets both their own standards and those of their customers, which sometimes exceed those set by the Indonesian government. For example, some CPAs still permitted in Indonesia are no longer accepted by many international cigarette manufacturers.
Jasper Kuitems
Farmers who grow tobacco under contract benefit not only from greater yields, better quality and consistent prices but also from the certainty that they will sell their crop. Contracting also helps growers cope with adverse events such as crop failures and natural disasters. For example, after the Mount Raung volcano erupted in 2015 and covered much of the region’s tobacco in ash, Mayangsari had to take on the additional expense of washing tobacco—but it kept buying. Farmers selling in the free market, by contrast, were stuck with their ash-covered crops because many middlemen decided to take a break that year. “We support our contracted growers in both good times and bad times,” says Jasper Kuitems, leaf manager for Mayangsari.
Despite the advantages of working with growers directly, most buyers also purchase leaf on the open market. Not only is contract growing an expensive and big logistical undertaking, but it also represents competition for the middlemen, who represent a powerful constituency in Indonesia. Buying through both channels allows merchants to supplement their contracted volumes and helps maintain social harmony in their communities.
Tobacco is a notoriously demanding crop, requiring more human interventions throughout the growing cycle than, say, corn or rice. Nonetheless, it remains a solid cash crop for both contract growers and free-market farmers in Indonesia, as evidenced by the fact that landlords charge tobacco growers higher rents than producers of other crops. “If done correctly, tobacco offers an attractive return on investment,” says Green. Of course, everything depends on supply and demand. When prices are poor, farmers may look at alternative crops; in good times, they may plant extra tobacco.
Demand has been strong in recent years, particularly for Indonesia’s dark air-cured tobaccos. According to Martijn Schaap, acting country manager for Universal Tempu Rejo, this is partly a result of two consecutive poor Besuki NO harvests and partly due to cigar makers’ reduced inventories in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The growing popularity of cigar smoking in China has, too, boosted demand for Indonesian dark air-cured leaf.
No machine can mimic the fine motor skills required to sort, open and stack the delicate cigar tobaccos.
Post-Harvest
The Indonesian tobacco industry’s contribution to employment is not limited to the field. A significant share of kretek cigarettes continues to be constructed by hand, and the government favors manual production with lower tax rates. Its policies have helped reverse a long-term trend toward mechanized manufacturing, and handmade products now account for nearly one-third of the market, according to Sampoerna, which in November 2022 announced a major investment in new factories for hand-rolled cigarettes.
The leaf merchants, too, employ large numbers of workers post-harvest, particularly in the dark air-cured segment. After the leaf is delivered to the buyer, it is separated based on quality, moisture, length and color, among other parameters. Unlike in Latin America, where the bundles go directly into the fermentation rack, Indonesian companies open the leaves one by one—a painstaking process involving hundreds of women, who are said to be more patient and dexterous than their male counterparts.
Martijn Schaap (right)
After opening, the leaves are stacked into fermentation piles that can reach up to several meters in height and weigh up to 12 tons. During fermentation, which can last several months, enzymes and microorganisms break down organic compounds within the tobacco leaves, triggering various biochemical changes. The combination of temperature, humidity and pressure causes the leaves to obtain the desired color, flavor and aroma. To achieve uniform fermentation, the piles must be regularly “turned”—restacked from the ground up to ensure an even distribution of moisture and temperature, along with proper aeration. Timely restacking is crucial because if the temperature in a bale rises too high, it will turn the tobacco black and cause it to fall apart.
The labor-intensive nature of their operations causes tobacco processors’ payrolls to swell significantly during the season. While Indonesian wages are low by international standards, they have been rising rapidly. In 2023, the minimum wage in the Jember area jumped by 8.5 percent compared with an overall inflation rate of 3.08 percent nationwide. The industry expects another hefty minimum wage increase, of approximately 10 percent, in 2024.
The rising cost of labor presents a challenge for the cigar leaf companies because few of their activities lend themselves to mechanization. Tobacco farm plots tend to be too small and too dispersed to effectively deploy farm equipment, and no machine can mimic the fine motor skills required to sort, open and stack the delicate tobacco leaves yet. Universal did recently purchase a new seeding machine, however. Due to more accurate seed placement and other improvements, the new device offers significantly higher germination rates than the company’s existing seeder.
The rise in labor cost presents a challenge for the cigar leaf tobacco merchants because few of their operations lend themselves to mechanization.
Taking Responsibility
Like their counterparts elsewhere, leaf dealers in Indonesia are investing heavily in environmental, social and governance (ESG) projects. AOI, for example, has been fitting its contracted farmers’ curing barns with new gasifying systems that burn biomass rather than wood. Not only does this reduce pressure on Indonesia’s forest cover, but it is also more efficient because biomass has a higher calorific value than wood. On a cost-per-kilo basis, it’s about 30 percent cheaper than using wood, according to Green.
This year, AOI and its processing joint venture partner ITS have planted 5,000 trees in cooperation with a local organization, Trees4Trees. The project aims to plant 60,000 trees by 2030. In addition, AOI installed four deep water wells and tanks, assisting almost 300 families on Madura Island. The company intends to expand the project into other AOI regions where water scarcity is common through the dryer months.
The company has also engaged professional storytellers to educate the communities where it sources tobacco about the importance of health and safety, fair treatment and avoiding child labor. To date, the program has reached almost 20,000 participants. AOI aims to maintain an audience of more than 5,000 participants annually. In Jember, meanwhile, the tobacco sector is building playgrounds and supporting schools to keep children out of the fields.
The industry has also invested in waste management, which represents a considerable problem in Indonesia, where 40 percent of the country’s 142 million urban residents still lack basic waste collection services. In the Jember region, Universal has helped set up facilities that purchase waste from local communities, reducing litter and offering villagers an additional source of income. The money generated by the waste depots helps pay for the playgrounds, among other projects. Universal also sponsors initiatives that help people in the communities where it operates set up small businesses. The goal, says Schaap, is to make the projects self-sustainable so that they will endure and grow to serve the community as a whole.
Mayangsari recently made a remarkable contribution to tackling the waste problem. A regional superstition that burning disposable diapers brings bad luck to the baby prompted many mothers in the Jember area to dispose of used nappies in rivers, where they would leach chemicals, spread bacteria and cause blockages in waterways, including irrigation canals. By supplying more than 2,000 young mothers in its growing communities with reusable diapers, Mayangsari not only helped decrease diaper waste by more than 300 tons but also reduced the occurrence of diaper rashes, urinary tract infections and, importantly, household expenses. According to Kuitems, the money saved by not having to buy disposable diapers for six months is equivalent to 150 kg of rice, enough to feed two adults for an entire year.
A Tilted Playing Field
While the leaf dealers’ investments in ESG make them good corporate citizens, the business case is not always straightforward. According to the merchants featured in this article, it can be challenging to communicate and recover the added value provided by such projects. Whereas programs in the coffee and cacao business allow suppliers to charge a premium for responsibly sourced products through certification labels, there is no equivalent in the tobacco business. “A smoker cannot tell the difference between a responsibly sourced cigar and another product from its packaging,” says Kuitems.
Another challenge is that not everyone plays by the rules. Leaf dealers that pay minimum wages, forgo harmful crop protection agents and provide their growers with personal protective equipment must compete with players who don’t (and thus enjoy lower operating costs).
This means that responsible companies must work twice as hard as their less conscientious counterparts. “It forces us to operate as cleverly and efficiently as possible,” says Kuitems. While acknowledging the challenges, the merchants who contributed to this piece said they remain firmly committed to their standards—not only because their blue-chip customers insist on it but also because it is the right thing to do. The extra work, they noted, comes with the territory. It’s just one of the ways in which the complex Indonesian leaf tobacco market will keep the traders on their toes.
Taco Tuinstra is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial director.Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, he coordinates the work of staff writers and contributors.On his watch, Tobacco Reporter has won several awards for editorial excellence.Since joining the magazine in 1997, Taco has visited more than 75 countries to meet industry representatives in their markets and to report tobacco news firsthand.
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) expressed support for a recently implemented tax on e-cigarettes, reports Tempo.
The new tax took effect Jan. 1 and aims, in part, to discourage e-cigarette use. Vaping prevalence in Indonesia increased from 0.3 percent in 2011 to 3 percent in 2021, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey. The prevalence of cigarette smoking among adolescents aged 13-15 years increased by 19.2 percent over the same period.
Previously, the Indonesian National Vape Association (Pavenas) asked the Finance Ministry to postpone the implementation of the tax on e-cigarettes. Secretary General of the Indonesian Personal Vaporizer Association (APVI), Garindra Kartasasmita, said that the combination of the tax and the excise tax hike would be a heavy blow to entrepreneurs, consumers and industry players.
“This needs to take into consideration that the e-cigarette industry is a relatively new industry, and most of the industry players are from communities and MSMEs [Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises],” Garindra said in a statement published ahead of the tax.
YLKI chairman Tulus Abadi rejected industry assertions that vaping can help smokers give up of conventional cigarettes. “On the contrary, people will get double health burden due to the use of electronic cigarettes,” he said.
Bentoel International Investama, BAT’s Indonesian unit, has officially been delisted from the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), according to the Jakarta Globe. Bentoel has been listed on the IDX since 1990.
“IDX approves the removal of the company’s securities listing on the stock exchange, effective on Tuesday,” the IDX announced. “If the company wishes to re-list its shares on the IDX, the process can be carried out under applicable regulations.”
Bentoel Group has become the fourth-largest tobacco company in Indonesia, following Sampoerna, Gudang Garam and Djarum. The company produced local brands such as Bentoel Biru, Tali Jagat, Bintang Buana, Sejati, Neo Mild and Uno Mild.
In the first six months of 2023, Bentoel’s revenues were IDR4.31 trillion ($275.5 million), a 27.37 percent increase from the previous year. Net profit in the first semester of 2023 was IDR35.49 billion, up 121.83 percent from the previous year period.
