European Unmanufactured Tobacco Imports Fall to the Lowest Level in a Decade

IndexBox has just published a new report: 'EU - Tobacco (Unmanufactured) - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights'. Here is a summary of the report's key findings.

In 2020, European imports of unmanufactured tobacco fell by -7% y-o-y to 578K tonnes, reaching the lowest level over the past decade. Poland and Germany constitute the largest importers of unmanufactured tobacco in the EU, with a combined share of 48% of the total European import volume. Last year, Italy saw the most prominent drop in tobacco purchases from abroad, while Belgium ramped up its imports. The unmanufactured tobacco import price in Europe remained almost unchanged against the previous year. 

Unmanufactured Tobacco Imports in the EU

Unmanufactured tobacco imports in the EU shrank to 578K tonnes in 2020, dropping by -7% compared with the previous year. In value terms, unmanufactured tobacco imports declined from $3B to $2.8B (IndexBox estimates) in 2020. 

Poland (143K tonnes) and Germany (136K tonnes) represented roughly 48% of total imports of tobacco (unmanufactured) in 2020. The Netherlands (49K tonnes) occupied the next position in the ranking, followed by France (46K tonnes), Belgium (32K tonnes), Italy (31K tonnes) and Romania (28K tonnes). All these countries together held near 32% share of total imports.

In 2020, the most notable decline in terms of purchases, amongst the key importing countries, was attained by Italy (-23% y-o-y). Among the largest European importers, Belgium (+34% y-o-y) became the only country increasing the volume of imported unmanufactured tobacco. 

In value terms, Germany ($710M), Poland ($705M) and the Netherlands ($214M) were the countries with the highest levels of imports in 2020, with a combined 58% share of total imports. These countries were followed by Belgium, Romania, Italy and France, which together accounted for a further 22%.

The unmanufactured tobacco import price in the EU stood at $4,861 per tonne in 2020, remaining relatively unchanged against the previous year. There were significant differences in the average prices amongst the major importing countries. In 2020, the country with the highest price was Romania ($5,973 per tonne), while France ($2,538 per tonne) was amongst the lowest. In 2020, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by Italy, while the other leaders experienced mixed trends in the import price figures.

Source: IndexBox Platform