The Iranian Tobacco Company (ITC) plans to increase production by 66% to 15 billion cigarettes in the current Iranian year (started March 21), ISNA reported. The ITC produced more than 1.7 billion cigarettes in the first two months of the current year, indicating a 53% growth compared with the similar period of last year. Based on statistics released by Iran’s Customs Administration, Iranians smoke 60 billion cigarettes per year, only one-sixth of which is produced domestically. ITC is the country’s major cigarette manufacturer. Last year, the company had planned to increase production to 24 billion cigarettes, but managed only to produce 10 billion.
