10.2 The global tobacco manufacturing industry

10.2.2 Major multinational tobacco companies

10.2.2.1 Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International (including its US arm, Altria) is the largest of the multinational tobacco companies, in terms of overall global tobacco market share.¹ PMI also has the largest share of the global cigarette market of any multinational corporation, accounting for 14.1% of global cigarette sales volumes in 2017 (excluding Altria’s US operation).⁴ Philip Morris International operates in more than 180 countries. It owns the most popular and valuable tobacco brand in the world, Marlboro, which was worth US$82 billion in 2018 and accounted for almost 10% of the international cigarette market (excluding China and the US). Philip Morris International has invested heavily in ’reduced risk products’ⁱ, including launching its flagship heat-not-burn tobacco product, iQOS, in 2014, and the acquisition of a 35% stake in the e-cigarette manufacturer Juul by Altria.⁹ In 2018, Philip Morris reported an 27.4% share of ‘the international cigarette category’ and owned 6 of the top 15 global cigarette brands including L&M, Chesterfield and Bond Street.¹⁰

10.2.2.2 British American Tobacco 

British American Tobacco ranks as the second largest transnational tobacco company in terms of cigarette sales volumes after Philip Morris International, at 11.8% in 2017, and operates in more than 200 countries.⁴ British American Tobacco has around 300 brands in its portfolio, and the company regards Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall as its most important 'Global Drive' brands. Since 2005, British American Tobacco has also become active in the market for Swedish-style snus,^{ii 11} and has also invested heavily in what it terms ‘potentially reduced risk products’ⁱⁱⁱ, including so-called vapour products (e-cigarettes) and heat-not-burn products.¹²

10.2.2.3 Japan Tobacco

Japan Tobacco International grew from a largely domestic company to an international one through acquisition of other companies and brands. At 2017, Japan Tobacco controlled 8.4% of cigarette sales volumes globally, and operated in more than 120 countries.^1, 4 The international business’s portfolio of brands is led by Winston (the second-largest international brand in the world and fastest growing over the 2000s), and Camel (sold in over 100 countries), and Mevius (formerly Mild Seven).¹³

10.2.2.4 Imperial Brands

Imperial Brands, formerly operating as Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, is the smallest of the four multinational tobacco companies, controlling 3.7% of global cigarette sales volume and selling its key brands such as Davidoff, John Player Special, West, and Gauloises in 160 markets.⁴ The UK-based Imperial Tobacco Group substantially increased its global expansion since the mid-1990s, through brand acquisition (as has occurred in Australia) as well as increase in market share. Following its acquisition of Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH in 2003, Imperial Tobacco Group became the second largest tobacco company in Germany and the fourth largest multinational tobacco company in the world, manufacturing and distributing cigarettes, loose tobaccos, cigars and smoking-related paraphernalia such as cigarette papers, filters and tubes. The company cites Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East as its key growth regions.¹⁴ Imperial Tobacco  is a global market leader in fine cut tobacco and has reported its volume cigarette sales in terms of cigarette equivalents to demonstrate the way in which roll-your-own tobacco can mitigate volume falls in cigarette sales.¹³

The trend towards globalisation of the tobacco industry has included a globalised approach to marketing, research and lobbying,¹⁵ and factors such as trade liberalisation have opened new and lucrative markets to the transnational companies. Companies are increasingly focused on their 'international' brands, it being more cost effective to manage and market a smaller number of iconic brands than to develop smaller, market-specific brands.¹⁶ The negative effects of tobacco industry globalisation can be illustrated through the imbalance between the money that flows from (often poor) smokers to (often not poor) shareholders and the money that flows from wealthy to poor countries to reduce tobacco use. For example, in 2005, British American Tobacco reported that smokers in the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Africa provided about $340 million to its bottom line, an amount equal to about 140% of the total global development assistance for tobacco control.¹⁷  

Although the companies engage in strong competition, as an industry they are generally united in their desire to promote their products and undermine tobacco control measures^iv. At an international level, the tobacco industry engages against instrumentalities including the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the United Nations. It strongly fights to discourage countries from adopting the effective measures mandated in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The industry has marshalled and given voice to an international lobby for tobacco growers, especially powerful in countries where tobacco is a major agricultural commodity.^v Using arguments honed over decades of cooperation, the industry as a whole continues to advance misinformation about the nature of its products, obfuscates about addiction, and persists in its denials that advertising recruits new smokers.¹⁶

A research project by Stanford University's Global Tobacco Prevention Research Initiative, the Cigarette Citadels, maps the location of more than 400 cigarette factories worldwide. The goal of the project is to pinpoint all the factories in the world producing cigarettes and provide basic facts about them.¹⁸ The interactive map can be accessed here: https://www.stanford.edu/group/tobaccoprv/cgi-bin/wordpress/