Australia Smoking Tobacco Market Volume Sales Forecast to Decline by 1% CAGR over Next Few Years

Source from:  Trans World News  04/15/2014

RYO tobacco is by far the most popular type of smoking tobacco in Australia, accounting for 1,829 tonnes of tobacco in 2012, while pipe tobacco accounted for 17 tonnes in 2012.

There were three main players within smoking tobacco in 2012 in Australia: Imperial Tobacco Australia Ltd, British American Tobacco Australia Ltd and Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S. Swedish Match (Australia) Pty Ltd merged with Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S during 2011 with the new company taking on the latter's name. All Swedish Match brands were acquired by Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S, with the exception of its Willem II cigars brand. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) approved the merger on the proviso that Swedish Match (Australia) Pty Ltd, or the newly-merged company, divest its popular Willem II brand.

Public health campaigns, plain packaging legislation and retail display bans are expected to negatively impact volume sales for smoking tobacco over the forecast period. Consequently, volume sales are expected to decline by 1% annually. This is in contrast to the positive 3% volume CAGR of the review period. Price-conscious consumers switching from factory-made cigarettes to RYO tobacco over the latter half of the review period was the reason behind the positive growth during this time. The cigarettes category is expected to continue to lose share to smoking tobacco, nonetheless, legislation enacted over 2010/11 is expected to shift volume growth from positive to negative over the forecast period. Enditem