New pressures on a straining business
Nonetheless, tobacco stays Cuba’s high export, and in 2024, its authorities reported file income from its sale: almost $827m.
Lloyd Smith defined that the demand is linked to status. Across the globe, Habanos are thought of an emblem of luxurious.
“Lots of people, once they consider the cigar, they robotically consider Cuban cigars,” he stated.
That fame for exclusivity has been bolstered, partly, by the truth that Cuban cigars are unlawful within the US attributable to a longstanding embargo.
The commerce restrictions have been largely a response to the 1959 Cuban Revolution, which ushered within the island’s communist authorities.
The brand new regime shortly nationalised the island’s industries, a lot to the ire of US authorities.
Conventional tobacco manufacturers like Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta fell below state management, and new merchandise have been launched. They included the premium cigar model Cohiba, a favorite of the late Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.
However specialists say the US blockade has exacerbated the woes of a cigar business that has confronted a number of supply-side shocks in recent times.
In September 2022, Hurricane Ian ravaged Pinar del Rio, damaging as many as 90 % of the province’s tobacco curing barns, the place the leaves are dried.
That season noticed simply 5,150 hectares (13,725 acres) of tobacco planted, the bottom stage since information started. Tobacco development has remained sluggish within the years since.
Simply final month, the Cuban authorities introduced it had failed to satisfy its goal for the 2025-2026 rising season, set at 12,152 hectares (30,028 acres). That purpose had already been revised down in September attributable to heavy rains.
These crises have lowered cigar provides, each domestically and overseas.
In 2024, the island exported 50 million cigars, little greater than half of the 93.9 million shipped overseas in 2018, in keeping with Tabacuba, the state-owned tobacco firm.
Whereas Tabacuba has not shared information from the previous 12 months, business insiders say exports have slowed even additional in latest months.
Some cigar sellers haven’t acquired shipments of Habanos since final 12 months, says Lloyd Smith, whereas others are getting smaller deliveries much less typically.
Chetan Seth, the president of India’s solely Cuban cigar importer, Cingari, instructed Al Jazeera that “worldwide logistics have slowed down the supply of cigars”.
However, he added, “shares can be found”.
