By Jay Amberg Bloomberg Lifestyles. Thu, 22 Feb 2001,
12:23am EST. Bloomberg.com.
Havana, Feb. 16 -- On the verge of opening Cuba's third International Habano
Festival, Habanos SA, Cuba's global marketer and distributor for its premium
cigars, said last year's cigar production tumbled to 118 million units, compared
with 145 million- 150 million cigars a year earlier and about 126 million in
1998.
The news, announced at a press conference in Havana, is Cuba's first
official estimate of 2000 cigar production, though the slump in manufacturing
comes as no surprise because Habanos acknowledged earlier this year that
production could plunge.
"Last year the island produced close to 118 million cigars valued at
some $150 million,'' said Manuel Garcia, vice president of Habanos.
This summer, Habanos said it expected cigar production to slip by 15
percent, to 125 million-128 million units, though some expected the figure to
tumble to as low as 100 million.
As early as 1998, Habanos had projected 2000 cigar production at about 200
million units, and later, the company increased its goal to 300 million. At the
time, Cuba was producing about 130 million cigars, up from about 50 million in
1995.
Poor Harvest
Habanos blamed the sharp decline in cigar manufacturing on a poor harvest in
the Vuelta Abajo, the region inside Cuba's western- most province of Pinar del
Rio, where the island's finest cigar leaf is grown.
Tobacco farmers in the region said much of the 1999 and some of the 2000
crop was ravaged by blue mold, a fungus that leaves a round discoloration on the
leaf that eventually turns into large holes. The disfigured leaf is useless for
producing cigars.
Blue mold, an airborne fungus that gets into the soil, is thought by some
U.S. tobacco farmers to have originated in Cuba. It has spread north through
Florida and into the tobacco fields of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia,
Pennsylvania and eventually the home of U.S. shade grown tobacco, the
Connecticut River Valley.
Some U.S. farmers and agricultural experts have said if relations with the
U.S. and Cuba were relaxed, steps to bring blue mold under control could be
hastened.
Besides blue mold, some Cuba cigar officials said modern equipment (heaters)
used to speed tobacco curing damaged much of last year's harvested leaf and
theft of leaf for use in Cuba's black market for cigars also caused shortages.
Current Harvest
According to Cuban government officials in the Ministry of Agriculture, last
year's leaf shortages especially curtailed the production of large cigars
including Churchills and double corona sizes.
Reports are currently circulating through Havana that this year's tobacco
crop in sections of the Vuelta Abajo have also been attacked by blue mold, with
entire crops threatened with destruction.
Harvesting of the current crop is underway and could continue into the
second week of March.
The reports of blue mold, unconfirmed by Habanos and other Cuban officials,
have been questioned because Cuba has acknowledged this year's drought was
damaging to the island's crops, including tobacco.
Blue mold thrives in damp and humid conditions.
Because of recent leaf shortages, Garcia said Habanos wouldn't introduce any
new brands to its existing line of 34 cigars.
"Our main objective is to consolidate Cuba's 34 cigar brands and
promote them in the world market,'' Garcia said.
Garcia said Cuba's best-selling brands are Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta,
Partagas, Quintero and Cohiba, with the largest importers of Cuban cigars being
Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and the U.K.
On Monday, more than 1,000 people involved in the global cigar industry will
be in Havana to inaugurate Cuba's third International Habano Festival, a
weeklong event that includes a trade show, seminars, luncheons and banquet.
The current harvest and future production are expected to be among the most
discussed subjects during the week.
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