Tobacco products include cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, e-cigarettes, vapes, snus/snuff, dissolvable tobacco products, among others. Virginia, burley, and oriental are the most common categories of tobacco. These categories differ from each other based on the curing process. Manufacturers blend these tobacco leaves in different proportions to produce a wide range of cigarettes and tobacco products.
Growing Prevalence of Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs) is Likely to Provide Significant Growth Opportunities in the Global Tobacco Products Market
Heated tobacco products and smokeless tobacco products are gaining huge traction among consumers as they are less risky than the combustibles. Heated tobacco products generally include e-cigarettes and vapes that heat a compressed tobacco stick or pod. The stick or tobacco pod is heated to the point where an inhalable aerosol is produced. The resulting aerosol contains much fewer harmful chemicals than the cigarette smoke. E-cigarettes and vapes are regarded as reduced risk products (RRPs). Governments of various countries are increasing the taxes on combustibles and lowering the taxes on heated tobacco products to reduce the prevalence of conventional cigarettes. This factor is expected to create lucrative growth opportunities for tobacco products market over the coming years. Leading manufacturers are developing e-cigarettes and vapes to cater to the emerging consumer trends. For instance, in May 2019, Philip Morris Products S.A., one of the prominent tobacco manufacturers, launched IQOS (I quit original smoking) which is an electronic device that heats paper-wrapped tobacco-filled sticks and generates nicotine-containing aerosol. Such products are expected to gain high popularity in the coming years as consumers are becoming more aware about the harmful effects of cigarettes smoke.
A few players operating in the tobacco products market include Altria Group, Inc.; British American Tobacco plc; Swedish Match AB; ITC Ltd.; Japan Tobacco International; Imperial Brands; Philip Morris Products S.A.; Vector Group LTD.; Pyxus International, Inc.; and China Tobacco International (HK) Company Limited; are among others.
