Franco-Spanish tobacco company Altadis will raise tobacco prices in Spain from Thursday, a sector source said on Wednesday.

Altadis will be following the example of Philip Morris International which raised the price of Marlboro, Spain's top selling cigarette, after the government raised taxes last week. Altadis will raise cigarette prices by between Euro 0.20 and 0.40, with a pack of its best-selling brand Fortuna rising to Euro 2.20 from 1.85 and Ducados Rubios, the most popular cheap cigarette brand, going up to Euro 2 from 1.75, the source said.
An Altadis spokesman declined to comment, saying any change in price would be published in the official state bulletin.
Philip Morris International, a unit of Altria Group, earlier raised its cigarette prices back to where they were before the US manufacturer triggered a price war.
A pack of Marlboros will once again cost Euro 2.75, an increase of 40 cents, according to new prices published in the state bulletin on Wednesday. The rest of the company's brands also go up in price.
Altadis, however, is only unwinding part of its earlier price cut, leaving Fortuna considerably cheaper than Marlboro. Fortuna had cost Euro 2.50 a pack before the 1 February price cut.
Last week the government raised taxes further to put a brake on the price war and set a minimum tax aimed at cheap brands, which have been stealing market share from the major names. On Tuesday, the distributors of some cheap brands raised their prices. A pack of Pepe, for example, increased to Euro 1.65 from 1.25, well above the Euro 1.10 minimum tax charge under the new fiscal regime.
Altadis said late on Tuesday it would cut almost 500 jobs in Spain and France to reduce costs in the face of fierce competition. That comes on top of a restructuring that has already involved shedding more than 1,000 workers. Spain is one of the most attractive markets in Europe for tobacco companies, with a smoking rate second only to that of Greece. (pi)