The Eastern Company for Tobacco (EETC), Egypt’s biggest tobacco company, has taken an urgent decision to increase cigarette production by 40 percent which will be distributed to local markets.
This follows in the wake of the nation’s cigarette price crisis, with prices for the Cleopatra cigarette brand surging to unprecedented levels.
The EETC was driven to increase production and pump more products into the markets.
It also increased the overall supply, with distribution exceeding about 150 million cigarettes per day in markets across Egypt.
The EETC aims to control the rising prices and stop exploitative sellers. Consequently, cigarette prices fell by LE20, bringing the price of a pack to LE40.
This decrease is a result of the EETC’s increase of production and tightened surveillance to restrain the black market.
Eastern Company CEO Hani Aman announced that the company is working with various state agencies to ensure the proper supplies are being provided to the public.
The Eastern Company has increased production by 15 percent to meet the needs of the local market, then resorted to raising production again by 25 percent to cover citizen needs.
