TOKYO – With Japan’s tobacco taxes scheduled to jump by 60 yen on October 1, Japanese smokers are stockpiling cigarettes, the Yomiuri Shimbun reports. Tobacco companies and convenience stores are racing to keep up with the increased demand.
Drug stores are looking to cash in after the tax hike by expanding their lineup of smoking cessation products, while Japan Tobacco Inc. will be remodeling its products to counter any decline in sales.
Japan will raise taxes on most cigarettes brands by more than 50 percent, the largest hike ever. Japan Tobacco’s shipping volume has increased since late last month, up around 20 percent from the same time frame in 2009. The company predicts cigarette sales to be twice as much as usual for September, with sales peaking in late September as many employees receive paychecks.
Meanwhile, convenience stores are scrambling to sell as many cigarettes as possible before the end of the month when they are expecting revenues to drop. “[Sales of cigarettes] account for about 22 percent of our total sales,” said an official with FamilyMart Co.
Some retailers are asking customers to make reservations to purchase cigarettes to avoid running out of stock. Japan Tobacco estimates cigarettes sales will plummet 25 percent through the end of September 2011, based on overseas tobacco tax increases.