Director General Jiang Chengkang of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) said at a meeting in Beijing on July 16 that the tobacco industry of China was in a situation of continued stable development and operation in the first half of 2009, with coordinated growth in both cigarette production and cigarette sales.
In an address to the 2009 annual national conference of the chiefs of provincial-level tobacco monopoly administrations and general managers of provincial-level tobacco companies, Jiang said that the development and operation of China's tobacco industry in the first half of 2009 were of the following characteristics:
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Firstly, from January to June, the tobacco industry of China produced 1,193.3 billion cigarettes (23.866 million cases) and sold 1,194.45 billion cigarettes (23.889 million cases).
Secondly, key competitive cigarette brands of China's tobacco industry registered continued favorable development in the six-month period.
From January to June, the sales volume of the 30 leading key competitive cigarette brands of China's tobacco industry reached 635,665 billion cigarettes (12.7133 million cases), up 93.985 billion cigarettes (1.8797 million cases), or 17.35 percent, year-on-year, which was higher than the average sales increment by the whole tobacco industry in the first six months by 12.48 percent, and which accounted for 53.49 percent of the total cigarette sales volume by the whole tobacco industry in the six-month period, up 5.69 percent year-on-year.
The trend of development of leading key competitive cigarette brands remained unchanged in the first six months, with their rate of contribution further increasing, and with their role in supporting development of the tobacco industry further strengthened.
Thirdly, the cigarette sales prices rebounded amid stability in the first six months. In face of the situation of relatively sharp fluctuations in the prices of some cigarette brands in some Chinese regions in the first six months, the STMA strengthened efforts to regulate price setting, tighten management over the ratio of inventories to sales, and strictly control inventories held by retailers, effectively promoting the rebound of cigarette sales prices amid stability.
Fourthly, the tobacco industry of China made new progress in the development of overseas markets in the six-month period. From January to June, the tobacco industry of China exported 54,700 tons of leaf tobacco, up 10.84 percent year-on-year, and 6.394 billion cigarettes (639,400 boxes), up 55.9 percent year-on-year.
In the first six months, the amount of cigarettes produced by the overseas enterprises operated by the tobacco industry of China and by its overseas joint ventures reached 8.71 billion cigarettes (871,000 boxes), up 40.4 percent year-on-year, with their cigarette sales volume in the period reaching 9.24 billion cigarettes (924,000 boxes), up 55.9 percent year-on-year.
From January to June, the tobacco imports and exports were valued at 1.22 billion U.S. dollars, up 46 percent year-on-year, with the amount of exports alone standing at 398 million U.S. dollars, up 40.33 percent year-on-year.
And fifthly, the tobacco industry of China registered steady growth of economic efficiency in the first six months of 2009. From January to June, the tobacco industry of China generated 276.119 billion yuan (39.5 billion U.S. dollars) in manufacturing and commercial taxes and profits, up 32.322 billion yuan (4.6 billion U.S. dollars), or 13.26 percent, year-on-year.
In the first six months, the cost rate of sales income by the manufacturing enterprises of China's tobacco industry reached 30.8 percent, down 0.2 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, the rate of operating expenses, management cost and financial cost on the part of the commercial enterprises of China's tobacco industry stood at 6.77 percent, down 0.35 percent year-on-year.
From January to June, the consumption of energy for every 10,000 yuan (1,430 U.S. dollars) in output value reached 36.2 kilograms, down 12.1 percent year-on-year, and the composite consumption of energy for producing every 10,000 cigarettes was 3.96 kilograms, down 9.8 percent year-on-year.
Also in the first six months, the amounts of sulfur dioxide emission and chemical oxygen demand on the part of China's tobacco industry respectively went down 4.7 percent and 4.2 percent year-on-year. Enditem
