Manila Rolls Out Red Carpet for Heated Tobacco Makers

The Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is urging tobacco companies to manufacture their heated tobacco products in the country, citing surging domestic demand and export opportunities, according to the Philippine News Agency.

During the International Tobacco Agriculture Summit in Taguig City on Aug. 2, DTI Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said while local demand for cigarettes is expected to decline from 49.61 billion sticks in 2022 to 39.06 billion sticks in 2027, sales of HTPs are poised to increase significantly during that period.

He cited a Euromonitor predicting HTP retail sales of HTPs to surge by 511 percent to 4.06 billion sticks in 2027.

Rodolfo said HTP producers would benefit the Philippines’ free trade agreements with regional markets. “HTPs, if manufactured in the Philippines, can be imported in ASEAN (except Vietnam), Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong at zero percent tariff duty,” he was quoted as saying.

In 2022, the top destinations for Philippine tobacco products included South Korea at $102.2 million, Thailand ($98.29 million) and Myanmar at $49.4 million.

According to Rodolfo, Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco aims to build a PHP9-billion factory in Tanauan, Batangas, for the production of IQOS devices.