Handmade Cigar Imports Up For Third Quarter
Handmade, cigar imports continue to pour into America, and the cooling off period most people have been expecting is not happening just yet. Today the Cigar Association of America released its third-quarter report on cigar imports, and it showed a gain of 3.8 percent over the third quarter of 2023.
More than 314 million cigars were exported to the United States in the third quarter of 2024, compared to 303 million in the same period last year. This is an impressive number. Not so long ago, imports of 300 million cigars was considered the benchmark for a good year in the cigar business.
Most of the cigars come from a trio of producers. Nicaragua remains the powerhouse of the cigar industry, and it shipped 186.5 million cigars, up 2.8 percent. The Dominican Republic, the No. 2 producer, shipped 77.4 million cigars, up 12.9 percent. Honduras, the third-largest producer, had 48.3 million cigars, down 7 percent. Costa Rica, usually a marginal producer, showed huge gains with shipments of 2 million cigars, up from only 811,000 in the third quarter of 2023.
Last year, the United States imported 467 million cigars. Should this pace be maintained, the total imports for 2024 would reach 480 million cigars.
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