Cedars cigarettes active in the domestic black market

In its edition of October 25, Al Akhbar daily published a feature on the national tobacco industry, with special focus on the trademark, ‘Cedars’, that has seen a growing demand lately brought about by the war in neighboring Syria (c.f. http://bit.ly/2eIt8Zi). Comparing it to the trade exchange market, the newspaper drew attention to the fluctuating prices of one packet between one dealer and another!. The state-owned Regie Libanaise des Tabacs et Tombac, better known as Regie, Al Akhbar wrote, sells one box of ‘Cedars Silver’ to franchise owners at LBP 363 thousand. As such, the packet, originally priced at LBP 726, is sold in the market at nearly LBP 1250 or LBP 1500, by a LBP 524 difference, with net LBP 824 going to the pockets of black market dealers. The newspaper revealed that, sometimes in the same day, the price varies according to the the points of sale. One shop owner, Ali, told Al Akhbar reporter that 10% of traders who own sales licenses and boast relations with key distributors at the Regie, monopolize the market. He said that since licenses through the state-run company have been suspended for a long time, he, like other merchants, will try to get one through the black market. The newspaper concluded by stating that the illegal trade in cigarettes is taking place with the full knowledge of the Regie, and other official authorities, who prefer not to intervene and continue to boast about the growth in domestic consumption of the national product (43% share according to the latest Regie figures). (Al Akhbar, October 25, 2016)