Cigarette production at the British American Tobacco factory in Bayreuth will cease by the end of 2017 and 970 jobs made redundant in response to declining volume in European markets, BAT Germany said.

Production at what currently is BAT’s largest manufacturing centre will be shifted to plants in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Croatia, and will include some intermediate goods, the company said in confirmation of earlier press reports citing unnamed sources. Intermediate goods for export markets will be shifted from Bayreuth by mid-2018, BAT Germany said.
Make your own (MYO) production and tobacco casing and flavouring will continue in Bayreuth, BAT said. The Dry Ice Expanded Tobacco (DIET) operation also will be continued. Product Centre Europe and Regional Engineering Western Europe will remain in Bayreuth. Continuing operations employ 370 people, BAT Germany said.
Between 2011 and last year, cigarette volume sold in Western Europe fell 17 per cent, or 23 billion sticks, BAT Germany said. “In view of the current state of the market, these painful adjustments were necessary.”