▶ KT&G booth, International Trade Fair for Tobacco Products and Smokers Products, Dortmund, Germany in Sep 2014

KT&G(CEO: Mr. Bok-in Baek)’s overseas revenue surpassed the domestic performance for the first time in its history.

According to KT&G’s cigarette sales data, its outbound sales volume including export sales and sales volume of cigarette produced in overseas factories reached 46.5 billion sticks, which outperformed its domestic sales of 40.6 billion sticks.

The annual outbound sales was only 2.6 billion sticks in 1999. KT&G’s outbound sales performance has seen a drastic improvement since the former state-run enterprise was privatized in 2002. The annual outbound sales jumped to 28.5 billion in 2005. The annual outbound sales reached 40.7 billion sticks in 2012, leaped more than 15-fold after ten years since its privatization. KT&G’s outbound sales of 46.5 billion sticks in 2015 broke its outbound sales record and the cumulative outbound sales reached 540 billion sticks.

Out of the total annual sales size in 2015, the Middle Eastern market took up 48.8 percent; Asia Pacific 25.4 percent, Central-South AmericaㆍEurope 14.2 percent; and CISㆍCentral Asia 11.5% percent. ESSE (55.5%), PINE(29.2%), and TIME(5.3%) were leading products.

KT&G’s high quality of product and challenge spirit led the major export of tobacco products to begin with Middle Eastern countries including Iran and Turkey, which were not easy for multi-national global tobacco corporations to penetrate. With ultra-slim tobacco, ESSE, KT&G has actively expanded to the new market including Southeast Asia and North-Central America, as well as Middle East, Russia, and Eastern Europe.

Overseas operations and facilities also accelerated KT&G’s success. The company’s first overseas plant was built in Turkey, in 2008 and it currently has production facilities in Iran and Russia. In 2011, the company acquired a stake in Indonesia’s sixth largest tobacco manufacturer to become the major shareholder to implement aggressive marketing in new markets.

KT&G said “As the domestic market has taken its toll, KT&G has been seeking stronger overseas sales to become the top 5 tobacco maker in the world. KT&G will jump up to be a leading tobacco company in the world by promoting a global brand and differentiating new products.

▶ KT&G staffs having a sales meeting with a buyer at International Trade Fair for Tobacco Products and Smokers Products, Dortmund, Germany in Sep 2014

▶ ESSE product displayed at a cigarstore in Iran