BAT: No hike in prices of tobacco items

By ANCILLA WRAKUALE
BRITISH American Tobacco, Papua New Guinea’s only tobacco manufacturer, said it has not increased its prices and does not know why prices of its products have skyrocketed in the last two weeks, especially in Port Moresby.
BAT corporate affairs manager Ako Toua said tobacco prices from the factory to the wholesaler had not changed.
“The price of Spear and Pall Mall green and red from our factory in Madang to the wholesaler has not changed … it remains the same.”
When asked about the possibility that the flooding of counterfeit tobacco products may have caused a shortfall in the supply of tobacco products, Toua said BAT would maintain its supply and prices.
 “As a legal and responsible company operating in PNG, our fears is illicit cigarettes being traded from across PNG’s borders by rogue merchants and selling to unsuspecting public sub-standard products at a much cheaper price.
“It is unlikely that the actions of these rogue traders will make BAT PNG lower its prices,” Toua said.
Meanwhile, it was noted yesterday that only some shops in the city hiked their cigarette prices.
SVS Mart at 2-Mile said it had not increased its prices and was selling Pall Mall red, green and blue packets for K11.90, while a carton of Spear sticks sold for K50.
TST Group of Companies marketing manager Brenda Chan said they have not increased prices as well.
She said they were selling Pall Mall red and green packs for K11.95 each and a carton of Spear for K50.
Chan said they were aware of the high demand for cigarettes, but they never increased the prices although there was short supply.