FX.co ★ Philip Morris shuts Australian plant amid anti-smoking campaign

Tobacco giant Philip Morris famous for its Marlboro brand announced it will cease production at its only manufacturing plant in Moorabbin, Australia after six decades of operation. The production facility will be relocated to South Korea. The management’s decision will lead to a loss of 180 jobs. In addition, the town budget will fall short of a sizable income item. The company blamed the new government’s laws restricting tobacco turnover within the country. So, in 2012, Australia became the first country in the world to introduce "plain packs", which bans all company logos and colors from packets, which must instead display graphic health warnings. Moreover, tough rules were imposed to affect tobacco consumers. For example, smokers have been informed of an extended list of public places where smoking is banned. Interestingly, such an anti-smoking campaign has yielded fruitful results. According to the survey, cigarette sales have dropped in Australia for the last few years. Likewise, export sales of the only Philip Morris tobacco factory have also tumbled. The thing is that Australian regulators’ requirements go against interest of smokers from other countries. In a nutshell, there are few consumers willing to buy white lackluster boxes with warning words instead of traditional bright cigarette packets with logos of famous brands. You look like a cool cowboy with a Marlboro packet. But when you use a plain white box, you do not show off your status. Thus, most of customers refuse to buy such cigarettes. Therefore, Philip Morris’ factory in Australia has been operating at half of its capacity despite all efforts to increase sales.