Philip Morris International Announces €300 Million Investment in Smoke-Free Product Manufacturing Facility in Greece
March 22 2017 - 6:26AM
Business Wire
- Converting existing cigarette factory
in Greece into a production facility for the tobacco sticks to be
used with IQOS.
- Annual capacity of around 20 billion
tobacco sticks once fully operational.
- 400 new jobs to be created.
Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE/Euronext Paris: PM)
today announced an investment of approximately €300 million to
convert the cigarette factory of Papastratos, PMI’s affiliate in
Greece, into a manufacturing plant for the tobacco sticks to be
used with its smoke-free product IQOS. These tobacco sticks are
currently commercialized as Heets or HeatSticks.
Since the equipment necessary to manufacture tobacco sticks for
IQOS is larger than that required for cigarette manufacturing, the
current facility area will be expanded. Once fully operational, the
plant will have an annual capacity of around 20 billion tobacco
sticks. The investment will create 400 new jobs at Papastratos,
which already employs approximately 800 people. Construction on the
site will commence immediately, with production scheduled to begin
in January 2018.
“This investment is further evidence of our progress towards a
smoke-free future. We are encouraged by the 1.4 million smokers who
have already switched to IQOS around the world, and we expect this
momentum to continue. This facility will help enable us to meet
growing demand from adult smokers,” stated Frederic de Wilde, PMI’s
Regional President for the European Union. He added, “Our ambition
is that one day potentially less harmful, smoke-free products
replace cigarettes to the benefit of smokers, public health, and
society at large.”
The Papastratos plant in Aspropyrgos (Greece) will be PMI’s
third facility fully dedicated to the manufacture of smoke-free
products. In October 2016, PMI announced completion of its first
facility for tobacco sticks manufacturing in Crespellano (Bologna,
Italy) in addition to a pre-existing small scale Industrial
Development Center in Neuchatel (Switzerland).
IQOS is one of four smoke-free product types from PMI to address
adult smoker demand for potentially less harmful alternatives to
cigarettes. It is a heated tobacco product launched in late 2014 in
two city test markets and is expected to be available in key cities
in over 30 markets in 2017. Since 2008, PMI has hired more than 400
scientists and experts and invested over USD 3 billion in research,
product development, and scientific substantiation. Results of
scientific research to assess the reduced-risk potential of IQOS
are very promising, and the company openly shares its scientific
methodologies and findings for independent third-party review and
verification.
Philip Morris International Inc.
Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is the world’s leading
international tobacco company, with six of the world's top 15
international brands and products sold in more than 180 markets. In
addition to the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, including
Marlboro, the number one global cigarette brand, and other tobacco
products, PMI is engaged in the development and commercialization
of Reduced-Risk Products (RRPs). RRPs is the term PMI uses to refer
to products that present, are likely to present, or have the
potential to present less risk of harm to smokers who switch to
these products versus continued smoking. Through multidisciplinary
capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities,
and industry-leading scientific substantiation, PMI aims to provide
an RRP portfolio that meets a broad spectrum of adult smoker
preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. For more
information, see www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com
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