Spanish cigarette sales fell 3.4 per cent year on year in July the economy ministry said on Thursday, continuing the downward trend seen every month this year except May.

The July decline meant cigarette sales for the first seven months of 2006, as measured by boxes, were down 3.5 per cent from a year earlier to 2.54 billion boxes. A price war between cigarette makers, combined with new smoking restrictions in public places, meant the value of Spanish sales fell 4.4 per cent during the first seven months of 2006 to Euro 5.63 billion (US$ 7.24 billion), the ministry said.
Altria Group's Philip Morris began the price cuts at the end of January. The company's Marlboro brand kept its leading position in Spain during the first seven months of 2006, with 16.7 per cent of the cigarette market, down from 17.25 per cent during the year-earlier period.
The French-Spanish tobacco firm Altadis's Fortuna brand dropped 4.6 percentage points to take a market share of 10.9 per cent, while its cheaper Ducados Rubio brand held 7.1 per cent of the market against just 0.3 per cent a year earlier. (pi)