Sanctions Clouding S. Korean Cigarette Sales in Iran

South Korea’s leading tobacco seller KT&G is watching the Iran market where sales of its brands were slowing down this year after US reimposed sanctions against the Middle East nation, officials said on Thursday.
KT&G opened a factory in Iran in March 2009 that annually produced about 500 million sticks of cigarettes. The company wholly owns the plant and supplies most of the raw materials, Yonhap news agency reported.
The Iranian market for cigarettes has been growing steadily with the increase in the country’s population. The consumption totaled 47 billion sticks in 2012, 50.5 billion in 2013, 51.9 billion in 2015 and 57.2 billion in 2016. The smoking rate was also rising, from 13.5% in 2012 to 14% in 2013, 14.4% in 2014, 14.6% in 2015 and 14.9% in 2016.