I posted something on hurricane Gustav destroying some tobacco crop in Cuba some time ago. With the recent spate of hurricanes hitting the area, you might have been worried about their effects on the overall supply. Well here is good new for you – tobacco is plentiful at the moment.
Reuters has this report:
Hurricanes Gustav and Ike destroyed up to 2 million pounds of Cuba’s best tobacco, but reserves of the leaf should cover demand for the island’s premium cigars for the next year, a tobacco executive said on Wednesday.
The storms, which struck within 10 days of each other, caused major damage to the tobacco industry infrastructure, which will require a significant investment to repair, said Manuel Garcia, vice president of cigar producer Habanos S.A.
“We think that for at least the next year we should not have great difficulties with the supply of cigars because luckily for us, we have a reserve of raw material,” he said at a Havana business conference.
“Undoubtedly we are going to need an important financial injection for the tobacco (industry),” he said.
Thank goodness for whoever thought of stocking up on tobacco reserves. I am sure that this is common practice for most any industry but we never really think about it until disaster strikes. Well, for the moment cigar enthusiasts like you and me can relax and wait for the next crop to be harvested. Let’s hope that no hurricanes will hit next year.