February 2026: Philip Morris Egypt raises cigarette prices by E£5-7
Philip Morris Egypt announced new prices for its portfolio of traditional cigarettes and heated tobacco products in the Egyptian market. Under the updated price list, Merit is now priced at E£111 per pack ($2.4), Marlboro at E£102 ($2.2) and L&M at E£82 ($1.7). Heated tobacco prices have also been adjusted, with TEREA moved to E£82 ($1.7) per pack and TEREA Capsules to E£87 ($1.85). Marlboro Crafted (E£79) and HEETS (E£69) prices remain unchanged. The company stated that the official prices are displayed transparently on product packaging through QR codes, which have been affixed to traditional cigarette packs and heated tobacco sticks since 2022. By scanning the codes, consumers can directly verify the approved retail prices. The move follows the previous price update in July 2025, when prices were revised as part of a periodic review in line with local market developments and recent tax changes.
Meanwhile, Eastern Company, Egypt’s largest tobacco producer, raised the price of all its locally produced cigarettes by E£4 per pack to reach E£48 ($1.0). The new prices apply across the Cleopatra, Mondial, Boston and Belmont brands. The last price revision by Eastern Company was in June 2025 following tax bracket changes.
July 2025: Philip Morris Egypt raises cigarette prices
Philip Morris Egypt released a new price list for its range of tobacco products, including traditional cigarettes (Merit, Marlboro, L&M) and heated tobacco products (TEREA, HEETS). The new official prices for Philip Morris products are: Merit E£105 ($2.1), Marlboro E£97 ($2), Marlboro Crafted E£79 ($1.6), L&M E£76 ($1.5), TEREA E£76 ($1.5), TEREA Capsules E£80 ($1.6) and HEETS E£69 ($1.4). The updated prices are displayed on product packaging through a QR code system introduced in 2022. Philip Morris Egypt also urged retailers and distributors to adhere strictly to the announced prices. The price increase comes after the Egyptian parliament approved limited amendments to the value-added tax (VAT) law.
October 2024: Eastern Company and Japan Tobacco extended their manufacturing agreement for another three years
Eastern Company and Japan Tobacco (JT) extended their strategic manufacturing partnership for another three years. The renewed agreement, signed at the Eastern Company premises in Giza, focuses on enhancing local production, expanding product offerings to better meet consumer demand and improving operational efficiency. Eastern Company aims to boost its production through contract manufacturing deals with the global tobacco companies – which also provide diversified sources of foreign currency needed to import raw materials.
Recall that JTI filed a complaint to the Egyptian Competition Authority in November 2023, alleging that the Eastern Company is employing monopolistic powers. The compliant concerned JTI’s Gold Coast brand which competes with the low-priced cigarettes of Eastern Company. JTI and Eastern Company could not then reach an agreement to include the brand in their contract manufacturing agreement.
November 2023: Egypt Tobacco Market Overview
Egypt is home to 18Mn smokers and is the world’s 7th largest cigarette market by volume1 (~94Bn sticks a year). Only Philip Morris International (PMI) and the former monopoly, Eastern Company, own a licence to manufacture cigarettes in Egypt. Eastern Company controls more than 70% of the market and also has a ~24% stake in United Tobacco Company (UTC; majority-owned by PMI). Production & distribution of foreign brands (including those of Japan Tobacco International) are handled by Eastern Company. In August 2023, UAE’s Global Investment Holding bought a 30% stake in Eastern Company – outbidding JTI and UTC. For further details, see “Tobacco Industry: Acquisitions“.
Egypt is a battleground for volume for the tobacco majors – especially, for PMI and JTI. In the first 9 month of 2023, PMI sold 18.1Bn sticks (+19%) in Egypt – including 0.7Bn heatsticks (+31%). Accordingly, Egypt is now the 7th largest market for PMI. However, the market is in turbulence caused by the economic crisis and the implementation of the IMF loan program. Amid a shortage in supply and surge in parallel market prices, the Egyptian Parliament approved tax amendments in October 2023 – allowing cigarette companies to increase their official prices. The amendments also expanded the tax brackets by raising the minimum and maximum limits of the pack price by 12% annually for five years. Subsequently, Eastern Company hiked prices to offset the rising costs of production inputs as a result of the devaluation of the Egyptian pound. PMI followed by increasing the prices of its products by 15%-20%2. This was the third official price hike by PMI in the last 15 months (following the September 2022 and April 2023 hikes). The recommended RSP is now EGP69 ($2.25) for Marlboro and EGP27 ($0.87) for Eastern Company’s Cleopatra.
Further drama was added to the Egyptian market in November 2023 as JTI filed a complaint to the Egyptian Competition Authority alleging that the Eastern Company is employing monopolistic powers3. The compliant concerns JTI’s Gold Coast brand which competes with the low-priced cigarettes of Eastern Company. JTI is trying to shift the Gold Coast production from Turkey to Egypt (Eastern Company) following the recent tax amendments (banning the importation of low-priced cigarettes). However, JTI and Eastern Company have so far failed to reach an agreement to include the brand in their contract manufacturing agreement (set to expire in mid-2024) and, thereby, JTI is forced to stop selling Gold Coast.
Similar to the other emerging markets (such as, Pakistan, Indonesia and Philippines), Egypt is also home to many controversies – putting the squeeze on tobacco majors to deliver the hard-to-find volume growth in tobacco.
References:
- https://www.newarab.com/news/egyptians-smoke-100-billion-cigarettes-year-tobacco-chief ↩︎
- https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/512137/Business/Economy/Philip-Morris-hikes-price-of-tobacco-products-in-E.aspx ↩︎
- https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2023/11/21/jti-accuses-eastern-company-of-monopoly-in-cigarette-market/ ↩︎
