(MENAFN- AzerNews) ByFatih Karimov
In recent months, Iranian officials have repeatedly underscored that the administration increased domestic output of cigarettes, decreasing the dependency on imports.
The Iranian administration seriously follows a plan to domestically produce foreign cigarette brands in order to cut down the imports. Over 80 percent of the tobacco, used in Iran's cigarette factories is supplied through imports.
About 55 billion cigarettes are smoked in the country annually. Over 90 percent of the cigarette smoked in the country is planned to be supplied by domestic producers during the current fiscal year (to end March 2018).
The latest statistics indicate that Tehran has decreased cigarette imports by 43 percent to 1.97 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year (started March 2017), while the country's 12 cigarette plants produced 30.53 billion cigarettes in the eight-month period, 10 percent more year-on-year.
The Iranian officials also estimate that over 1.34 billion cigarettes were smuggled into Iran during the same time span, registering a 23-percent yearly fall.
Meanwhile, the statistics by other entities, including Customs Administration, reveal that Iran's cigarette producing sector is dependent upon imported raw materials, including rolling paper, used for making cigarettes, and tobacco.
About 6,000 hectares of land in Iran is under tobacco cultivation and annually 9,000 tons of tobacco is harvested in Iran, while the country's cigarette producing companies need at least 40,000 tons of tobacco.
According to Iran's Customs Administration, Iran has imported over 2,854 tons of rolling paper, worth $9.204 million, from 17 countries during the eight-month period of the current fiscal year.
Austria was the main exporter of cigarette paper to Iran in terms of value. The country exported 394 tons of rolling paper, worth $2.299 million, in the eight-month period.
Spain (662 tons, worth $2.125 million), China (736 tons, worth $1.754 million), the UAE (442 tons, worth $1.501 million) and Germany (319 tons, $526,170) were other top cigarette paper exporters to Iran during the period.
The figures unveil that the Iranian cigarette factories actually import the main part of their demand in order to meet the country's cigarette consumption.
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