Where are your cigarettes made?

Unless they work in a factory or in the tobacco trade, very few consumers really know where cigarettes are made. This article should shed a little light on the question.

No factories left in France

After the closure of the Carquefou plant near Nantes in 2014, Seita decided to close the Riom and Fleury-les-Aubrais sites, putting almost 500 people out of work. The Riom factory produced Gauloises, JPS, Royales and News.

The only plant still operating in France is at Furiani in Corsica, and it produces only for consumption on the island. The fall in cigarette sales was the argument used to justify closing the production sites, but competition from other countries also weakened the French cigarette manufacturing industry.

France 3 Régions – Franceinfo

No workforce, but large receipts

The French state collects a little over 10 billion euros from tobacco sales. Even though there is no longer any manufacturing in France, that does not prevent it from earning substantial sums on those sales. Thanks to a range of taxes, and to the rising price of the packet, the public purse is refilled rather well.

Price differences do, however, undermine the position of French tobacconists. Many consumers prefer to buy their cigarettes abroad, over the internet or through other channels. It costs them a good deal less, because the packet is taxed at a lower rate and, above all, the factories are close at hand.

So where are cigarettes made?

An interactive map put together by specialists at Stanford University makes it possible to see the world’s cigarette factories at a glance. Three large hubs share the market: north-eastern America, central Europe and East Asia.

Although the map is not always up to date, particularly where France is concerned, it gives a useful overview of the cigarette business worldwide. In the end, the cigarettes smoked in France are made mainly in eastern or northern Europe.

Image credits – stanford.edu