Philip Morris expects 15% increase in sales

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Cigarette producer PT Philip Morris Indonesia, a subsidiary of New York-based Philip Morris, expects sales volumes to grow by 15 percent this year from 9.5 billion sticks last year.

The company said in a presentation on Tuesday that the recovery in the country's economy would help lift sales.

It added that the strengthening in the value of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar would make its cigarette products more competitive as the company used foreign exchange to import some of its raw materials.

The company said that its sales were affected by the economic crisis with sales volume dropping by an average of 66 percent between 1997 and 1999.

Sales recovered to its pre-crisis level of 5.7 billion sticks in 2000.

Philip Morris Indonesia operates a cigarette factory in Malang, East Java.

The company on Tuesday launched its menthol cigarette products under the Marlboro brand.

Company marketing manager David Tjokro said that although the market share of menthol cigarettes in Indonesia only represented 0.5 percent of the industry, he was confident the new products could still grab a significant share.

He pointed out that Philip Morris menthol cigarettes had cornered 70 percent of the menthol cigarette market in Hong Kong, 53 percent in Singapore, and 38 percent in Japan.

"We believe with our strong image, competitive price and new taste, we can be successful in the Indonesian menthol cigarette market," David said.