SEOUL, KOREA - KT&G reported asharp increase in cigarette exports in the third quarter of this year.Accordingto KT&G’s preliminary results for the third quarter, KT&G exported 8.7billion pieces of cigarettes (or 435 million 20 packs) during the thirdquarter, up 48 percent year on year.
For theJanuary-September period of this year, KT&G’s cumulative cigarette exportsalso rose 49 percent compared to a year ago.By region, its cigarette shipmentsto the Middle East and Central Asia grew 69 percent, while those to the Asia-Pacificregion and the United States rose 27 percent.
Since domestic demandremained stagnant in the 1990s, KT&G has turned its eyes toward overseasmarkets, while actively exploring new market opportunities there.KT&G hasaggressively expanded its export outlets to about 50 countries, ranking No. 5among global tobacco makers.