Régie invests $8 million
to double production

Lines dedicated to produce

international cigarette brands

Régie Libanaise des Tabacs et Tombacs (Régie), the State-owned tobacco monopoly, will expand its Hadath factory’s production capacity by 50 percent in 2018. Investment in the expansion is around $8 million.

Production capacity will reach one million boxes (500 packs per box), an increase from the current 500,000 boxes.

Régie, following an agreement with the UK-based Imperial Tobacco, is producing its international brands ‘Gitanes’, ‘Gauloises’, and ‘West’ in its facilities. The new lines will be dedicated to produce other international brands for companies like British American Tobacco and Philip Morris.

Revenues moving from Régie to the government reached $294 in the first nine months of the year, dropping by six percent compared to the same period last year.

Georges Hobeika, Secretary General of Régie, said that after imposing the LL250 tax on imported cigarettes, smuggling increased, and this led to a drop in sales. “After imposing the tax in April, sales dropped 15 percent. Growth in the first three months was 17 percent,” said Hobeika.