2007 Cigar Imports Chugging Along

The Cigar Association of America recently released the latest trends in cigar imports into the U.S. What the numbers show is that despite a ton of anti-smoking chatter and new taxes and regulations, the cigar industry is doing...well...quite well!

The Cigar Association of America’s report for March 2007 showed another increase against one year prior and end the first quarter with imports running nicely ahead of 2006:

• Premium cigar imports totaled 25.8 million for March, up 4.8% over the 24.6 million that entered the U.S. March of 2006.• For the first quarter of 2007, imports totaled 60.3 million, up 3.5% over the 58.3 million for the first three months of 2006.

• As usual, the Dominican Republic dominated import totals, with 14.4 million or 56% of the total. For the first quarter, Dominican imports totaled 33.2 million, up 11.4% from last year.

• Honduras maintained its second-place status, but import totals fell for the month and for the first quarter. March imports totaled 6.1 million, down from 6.6 million the year before and for the quarter, imports were down from almost 15 million in 2006 to 13.6 million, nearly a 10% decline.

• Nicaraguan imports were also down slightly. For March of 2007, imports reached 4.7 million, down slightly from the 4.9 million a year earlier. For the first quarter, imports were down almost four percent to 12.7 million compared to 13.2 million for 2006.

Keep up the good work everyone!