Three key trends force tobacco companies to continuously re-assess and optimize their manufacturing footprint:
(1) Cost savings: Transferring labor intensive operations to lower-cost countries within a certain geography
(2) Geographical re-balancing: Fast-declining cigarette volume in the Western markets vs. Stable (even, increasing) cigarette volume in the emerging markets (especially, in East & Southeast Asia)
(3) Product mix re-balancing: Transformation from cigarettes to RRP/NGPs
The recent developments on Imperial Brands’ manufacturing footprint:
March 2026: Imperial Brands to Close Its Last German Cigarette Factory
Imperial Brands has announced that it will close its Reemtsma cigarette factory in Langenhagen, Germany, with production scheduled to end by 2027, resulting in the loss of around 600 jobs. The decision follows unsuccessful efforts to sell the site, leaving closure as the only viable option.
Reemtsma is one of Germany’s largest tobacco manufacturers and the maker of well-known cigarette brands such as West, JPS, and Davidoff (under license in some markets). Imperial Brands acquired Reemtsma in 2002 as part of its strategy to expand its presence in continental Europe and strengthen its international cigarette business.
Imperial stated that the Langenhagen plant has been facing high production costs, low capacity utilization, and declining cigarette volumes, making the site increasingly difficult to maintain within the company’s European manufacturing network. The factory produces cigarettes, fine-cut tobacco, and tobacco sticks for heated tobacco products. The closure is particularly significant because Langenhagen is Reemtsma’s last remaining production site in Germany. The plant has been operating since 1971, and its closure will mark the end of large-scale cigarette manufacturing by Reemtsma in Germany.
October 2025: Imperial Brands will cease production at the Langenhagen, Germany factory
Imperial Brands announced its intention to cease production at its Langenhagen factory (in the Hanover district of Lower Saxony, Germany), operated by its German subsidiary Reemtsma. The next steps will involve a review of available options and are now the subject of negotiations with the relevant parties. The outcome of these will be either a sale of the site to a third party or a closure. A total of 640 employees will be affected.
The decision follows a review of long-term efficiency and effectiveness of Imperial Brands’ wider global manufacturing network in line with the recently refreshed strategy for the 2026-2030 period. It is based on the steadily declining utilisation of global production capacity due to a long-term decline in production volumes in the traditional tobacco segment worldwide. The Langenhagen plant is particularly affected by underutilisation, high production costs and challenging regulatory hurdles.
The Langenhagen factory began operations in 1971. In addition to factory-made traditional cigarettes and fine-cut tobacco, the factory produces tobacco sticks for use with Pulze heated tobacco devices.
October 2023: Imperial Brands shuts down Macotab, the last cigarette factory remaining in France
The last cigarette factory remaining in France, Manufacture Corse des Tabacs (Macotab) on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, is set to close by the end of 20231 after six decades of operations. Macotab is owned by SEITA, the former French state-owned tobacco monopoly (- now part of Imperial Brands); most recently, it was making cigarettes on behalf of PMI who recently terminated the contract manufacturing agreement. This is a historical moment for the home of Gitanes and Gauloises, beloved by French movie stars & philosophers, and entrenched in French cultural fabric as much as the cafés and wine.
SEITA closed the last cigarette factory remaining on mainland France (Riom in the Puy-de-Dôme region) in 2017. Moreover, SEITA closed France Tabac de Sarlat (a tobacco processing plant in the Dordogne region) in 2019. In its heyday, the factory was extending over 10 hectares and processing 20,000 tonnes of tobacco from France and Europe every year. Some former factories in Marseille and Lyon now serve as cultural and exhibition spaces, or even a university.
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