US would represent main market for Cuban cigars

US would represent main market for Cuban cigars
Published on October 22, 2014

HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- The vice-president of Habanos SA international
corporation, Jorge Luis Fernandez, said in Havana that if the US trade
restrictions were lifted, Americans could make up the main market for
Cuban Habano cigars.

Speaking to Trabajadores newspaper, Fernandez said that from 1949 to
1958, just before the Cuban revolution, the US was a natural market for
the Cuban product, as Americans would buy 33 percent of the Cuban cigar
production, which translated into 35 percent of the total income of the
sector.

But the US trade restrictions imposed on Cuba in the 1960s not only
deprived Cuba of a stable market, but also prevented US cigar smokers
from having access to the Cuban product.

In normal conditions, Cuba could sell from 150 to 170 million premium
cigars, those hand-rolled and weighing over three grams, which would
translate into $380 million a year.

At present, Cuba sells its premium cigars in 25 European countries,
meaning 58 percent of its production, disregarding the cost of the
freight, and this compares to a previous sales of 33 percent of the
production in only one country.

Source: US would represent main market for Cuban cigars | Caribbean News
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