Egypt to Increase Prices of 10 Cigarette Brands

The Egyptian Chamber of Commerce's tobacco department recently announced an increase in the prices of 10 cigarette brands, including the popular Egyptian brand Merit, starting from April 6th. These 10 brands are all products under the international tobacco company Philip Morris International (PMI).

PMI is one of Egypt's largest distributors of tobacco and cigarettes. The Tobacco Department of the Egyptian Chamber of Commerce attributed the price increase to the rise in the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Egyptian pound.

The head of the tobacco department of the Food Industry Association of the Egyptian Federation of Industries, Ibrahim Imbaby, stated that the increase in PMI prices was due to a decrease in hard currency management and a rise in production costs.

According to a report by 2FIRSTS, the state-owned Eastern Company in Egypt has announced a price increase of 2-3 Egyptian pounds (equivalent to 0.44-0.66 yuan) per pack for cigarettes, cigars, and pipe tobacco.

In September 2022, PMI subsidiary United Tobacco Company (UTC) began producing cigarettes in the Egyptian market, breaking the monopoly of the state-owned Eastern Tobacco Company over cigarette production in Egypt.

Further reading:

Egyptian cigarette prices have increased by 2-3 Egyptian pounds per pack.

Reference:

Prices of ten different types of cigarettes have been increased in Egypt.