Tabaco de Cuba (Tabacuba) has embarked on a capital investment programme to streamline production for domestic consumption and prepare for opening of the US cigar market, according to Granma.

The country’s only mechanized cigar factory, a joint venture of the state monopoly Tabacuba and Imperial Tobacco Group, will be expanded and modernized in anticipation that Cuban exports will gain entry to the US market, said Granma.
A cigarette factory with an eight-billion-stick annual capacity and valued at USD 100 million (EUR 91 million) will be constructed. Commercial partner is Souza Cruz, the Brazilian unit of British American Tobacco. The plant is expected to begin operations in 2018, Granma said.
In Holguin province, the Lázaro Peña cigar plant will be modernized to meet international production standards but geared to domestic consumption, said Granma, the official press organ of the Communist Party. A second mechanized cigar plant will be constructed to meet national demand, Granma said.