KT&G overseas sales volume rose 4.7 per cent to 48.7 billion sticks last year as the cigarette maker continued to expand its distribution network, the Korea Herald said.

Overseas sales in 2016 at USD 812.1 million (EUR 758.6 million) represent a record for KT&G, said the Herald. The ultra-slim Esse brand accounted for about half the sales, the Herald said. KT&G has opened factories in Turkey, Iran and Russia and bought an Indonesian tobacco company since it began exporting cigarettes in 1988. The company’s products are sold in more than 50 countries, the newspaper said in a report citing a KT&G official.