Japan Tobacco says cigarette price hike an option
TOKYO, - Japan Tobacco Inc, the world’s No. 3 tobacco maker, said it may raise the price of Marlboro cigarettes– its first non-tax linked hike in 15 years — to help offset nine straight years of a shrinking market.
The increase would come on top of rises in everything from gasoline to beer and noodles that have already burdened consumers in the world’s second-largest economy.
Japan Tobacco, which is half-owned by the Japanese government, has seen costs rise even as it grapples with an ageing population and widening health consciousness that have reduced the ranks of smokers.
It is also suffering from the yen’s surge against the dollar and fallout from a food scare earlier this year involving pesticide-contaminated dumplings it imported from China.
"First we want to try to reduce our costs, then we want to shift customers to higher-priced, value-added products," spokeswoman Yukiko Seto said on Friday .
"After that, we might consider that sort of thing," she added, confirming a Nikkei business daily story quoting Japan Tobacco President Hiroshi Kimura as saying price hikes were an option.
If the company raises Marlboro cigarettes prices, it will be the first time since 1993 that a price increase has not been linked to taxes. Japan Tobacco makes Mild Seven cigarettes and owns the Camel, Winston and Salem brands outside of the United States.
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