STMA Reports Growth in Leaf Tobacco Purchase, Cigarette Output, Sales

Source from:  China Tobacco magazine 12/05/2005

The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) - the watchdog of China's tobacco industry - has recently issued a report on operation of the national tobacco industry over the first three quarters of 2005, indicating growth in State leaf tobacco purchase and in cigarette output and sales. [b]STATE LEAF TOBACCO PURCHASE:[/b] In September, State leaf tobacco purchase went up by a relatively big margin of 104,000 tons over the same month of 2004, fulfilling 54 percent of the annual State leaf tobacco purchase quota for the year. [b]CIGARETTE OUTPUT[/b] In September, the structure of cigarette products in China continued to change in favor of high-grade products. In the month, the output of Grades One and Two cigarettes rose by 25 percent year-on-year. The degree of concentration of cigarette products onto the Top Ten cigarette brands in terms of output continued to go up. In September, the cigarette output reached 165.76 billion cigarettes (3.315 million cases), up 4.6 percent year-on-year. From January to September, the tobacco industry of China produced 1,480.12 billion cigarettes (29.602 million cases), up 3.8 percent year-on-year, with the proportions of Grades One, Two and Three cigarettes respectively going up 0.3 percent, 1.1 percent and 1.7 percent year-on-year, with the proportion of Grade Four cigarettes basically remaining on a par with that of the same period of 2004, and with the proportion of Grade Five cigarettes gong down 3.3 percent from the same period of 2004. In September, the number of cigarette brands in production was 233, down 82 from the same month of 2004. The degree of concentration of cigarette products onto the Top Ten cigarette brands in terms of output reached 28.2 percent, up 5.3 percent year-on-year. [b]CIGARETTE SALES: [/b] According to official statistics, the cigarette sales volume reached 174.77 billion cigarettes (3.495 million cases) in September, outdoing the cigarette output in the same month by 180,000 cases (9 billion cigarettes), going up for the fourth consecutive month. From January to September, the cigarette wholesales volume reached 1,484.37 billion cigarettes (29.687 million cases), up 3.8 percent year-on-year. [b]MANUFACTURING, COMMERCIAL INVENTORIES OF CIGARETTES: [/b] At the end of September, the cigarette inventories on the part of both the manufacturing and commercial sectors of the tobacco industry declined to the lowest annual level of 128.04 billion cigarettes (2.561 million cases), down 1.54 billion cigarettes (31,000 cases) from the same time of 2004, and down 3.89 billion cigarettes (78,000 cases) from the end of August. [b]PRODUCTION, SALES OF TOP 100 CHINESE CIGARETTE BRANDS: [/b] The output and sales of the Top 100 Chinese cigarette brands continued to go up by two digits. In September, the output of cigarettes of the Top 100 Chinese cigarette brands reached 143.99 billion cigarettes (2.88 million cases), up 18.8 percent year-on-year. From January to September, the output of cigarettes of the Top 100 Chinese cigarette brands reached 1,254.67 billion cigarettes (25.093 million cases), up 21.7 percent year-on-year. In the nine-month period, the proportion of the Top 100 Chinese cigarette brands in the total cigarette output of China reached 84.8 percent, up 12.5 percent year-on-year. In September, the sales volume of the Top 100 Chinese cigarette brands reached 147.49 billion cigarettes (2.95 million cases), up 21.3 percent. From January to September, the sales volume of the Top 100 Chinese cigarette brands reached 1,212.02 billion cigarettes (24.24 million cases), up 29 percent year-on-year. In the nine-month period, the proportion of the Top 100 Chinese cigarette brands in the total cigarette sales volume in China reached 81.4 percent, up 15.2 percent year-on-year. At the end of September, the inventories of the Top 100 Chinese cigarette brands totaled 105.1 billion cigarettes (2.102 million cases), up 11.03 billion cigarettes (221,000 cases) year-on-year, accounting for 82.1 percent of the total cigarette inventories on the part of both the manufacturing and commercial sectors of the tobacco industry, up 9.5 percent year-on-year. [b]PRODUCTION, SALES OF LOW-GRADE CIGARETTES: [/b] Both the production and sales of low-grade cigarettes in China remained stable. In September, the output of low-grade cigarettes in China reached 68.3 billion cigarettes (1.366 million cases). From January to September, the output of low-grade cigarettes in China reached 603.16 billion cigarettes (12.063 million cases), accounting for 40.8 percent of the total cigarette output of China. In September, the sales volume of low-grade cigarettes in China reached 69.52 billion cigarettes (1.39 million cases). From January to September, the sales volume of low-grade cigarettes in China reached 608.32 billion cigarettes (12.166 million cases), accounting for 41.1 percent of the total cigarette sales volume in China. At the end of September, the inventories of low-grade cigarettes in China stood at 41.95 billion cigarettes (839,000 cases). [b]CIGARETTE PRODUCTION BY KEY CHINESE TOBACCO MANUFACTURERS: [/b] From January to September, the 36 key Chinese tobacco manufacturers designated by the STMA produced 1.236.52 billion cigarettes (24.73 million cases), up 4.1 percent year-on-year, accounting for 83.5 percent of the total cigarette output of China, with the increment higher than the national average by 0.3 percent. In particular, Grades One, Two, Three, Four and Five cigarettes produced by the 36 key Chinese tobacco manufacturers respectively accounted for 96.2 percent, 95.1 percent, 86.1 percent, 75.9 percent and 48.2 percent of the corresponding grades of cigarettes produced by all the tobacco manufacturers in China. At the end of September, the inventories of cigarettes on the part of the 36 key Chinese tobacco manufacturers totaled 25.46 billion cigarettes (509,000 cases), down 2.44 billion cigarettes (49,000 cases) from the same time of 2004. [b]CIGARETTE SALES BY COMMERCIAL ENTERPR