Mu’assel Imports Down 34%

A total of 3,259 tons of mu’assel were imported into Iran during the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-Sept. 22), indicating a 34% decline compared with the similar period of last year, the head of Tobacco Planning and Supervision Center, Ali Asghar Ramzi, said.

A syrupy tobacco mix containing molasses and vegetable glycerol smoked in a hookah, mu’assel is mostly imported from the UAE, Jordan and Egypt.

“About 9,156 tons of mu’assel were imported in the last Iranian year (March 2016-17) and 5,823 tons in the year ending March 2016,” IRNA quoted Ramzi as saying.  

As for cigarettes, Ramzi earlier said 1.4 billion cigarettes were imported during the same six-month period, registering a 56% decline compared with the similar period of last year.

Domestic production of cigarettes reached 23.13 billion over the period, posting a 20% rise compared with the corresponding period of last year. The Center for Tobacco Planning and Supervision estimates that about 27.5 billion cigarettes were consumed in H1, noting that the area under tobacco cultivation is around 6,000 hectares, which produce 9,000 tons of tobacco annually.