China: Cigarette Factory Kicks Off Project of Relocation, Technological Transformation

Source from:  TobaccoChina Online 09/17/2010

Shenyang Cigarette Factory of Hongta Liaoning Tobacco Co., Ltd. in northeast China's Liaoning Province held a foundation-laying ceremony to kick off the project of relocation and technological transformation at its new site in the Hunnan High and New Technology Development Zone of Shengyang City on September 9, which is intended to enlarge its annual production capacity and upgrade its technology and equipment. Attending the ceremony were Wang Min, secretary of Liaoning Provincial Communist Party Committee, Li Keming, deputy director-general of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), Zeng Wei, secretary of Shenyang City Communist Party Committee, Zhao Zhenlin, director of Liaoning Provincial Tobacco Administration, Liu Wandong, president of Hongta Group, and other dignitaries. The project of relocation and technological transformation of Shenyang Cigarette Factory is a priority construction project of Liaoning Province approved by the STMA, which will cover a total area of 435 mu (29 hectares), with the total construction area to reach 110,000 square meters. The total investment in the project is expected to reach 1.03 billion yuan (151 million U.S. dollars), excluding expenditures on equipment under monopoly by the State. The whole project is expected to be fulfilled by the end of 2012. When the project of relocation and technological transformation is completed, the new park-style, environment-friendly Shenyang Cigarette Factory will have an annual cigarette production capacity of 300,000 cases (15 billion cigarettes), with its technology, equipment, management, production environment, energy conservation, emission reduction, etc to reach the world's advanced levels. The century-old Shengyang Cigarette Factory has undergone a series of positive changes since its merger with Hongta Group - a key Chinese tobacco manufacturer based in southwest China's tobacco-producing Yunnan Province - in December 2003. In 2003, Shenyang Cigarette Factory produced 8.9 billion cigarettes (178,000 cases), mainly under the small brand names of Blue Ridge, Great Production, etc, and paid 363 million yuan (53 million U.S. dollars) in taxes. In 2009, it produced 11.5 billion cigarettes (230,000 cases), mainly under such big brand names as the Great Hall of the People, Mount Hongtashan and The Red Plum Blossom, and paid 936 million yuan (137.5 million U.S. dollars) in taxes. From 2004 to 2009, the annual amount of taxes paid by Shenyang Cigarette Factory grew by an average of about 100 million yuan (68 million U.S. dollars) progressively on a year-on-year basis. Enditem