KT&G expanding boldly overseas

KT&G has been successful in expanding its overseas sales of cigarettes beyond its traditional markets in the Middle East, Central Asia and Russia, according to a story in The Korea Times.

Quoting an unnamed company official, the Times said that KT&G had sold 46.5 billion cigarettes overseas during 2015, of which 18.4 billion cigarettes, or 39.6 percent, were sold to ‘new’ markets, including the United States and countries of Africa.

KT&G sold 6.2 billion cigarettes in such markets in 2010, accounting for 15.4 percent of the company’s overseas sales at that time.

“KT&G’s success in new overseas markets like the US and Africa is attributed to the company’s differentiation strategy through our excellent product quality combined with thorough market research,” said an official.

As part of efforts to enter new overseas markets, KT&G launched a new subsidiary in the US and started selling a modified version of its Time cigarettes in 2010.

In 2015, the company sold 2.8 billion cigarettes in the US, as against 1.1 billion in 2010.

In Africa, where KT&G sold 40 million cigarettes in 2010 and 2.8 billion last year, success has been put down to the introduction of slim cigarettes.

During the past five years, sales have increased seven-fold in Latin America and doubled in the Asia-Pacific region.

“KT&G’s sales success in new overseas markets is significant because the company has entered into markets already dominated by transnational tobacco companies,” the official said.