Other companies also affected: Marlboro is fighting against delivery bottlenecks

The global delivery bottlenecks are apparently affecting all markets: the tobacco industry is also complaining about a shortage of cardboard boxes.

Other companies also affected: Marlboro is fighting against delivery bottlenecks

The global delivery bottlenecks are apparently affecting all markets: the tobacco industry is also complaining about a shortage of cardboard boxes. For the time being, only Marlboro is affected, but the Tobacco Industry Association warns of bottlenecks at other companies as well.

Anyone who smokes Marlboro cigarettes could face supply problems in Germany. The tobacco company Philip Morris, which holds the Marlboro rights in Europe, announced: "Due to the tense situation on the global raw materials markets (e.g. the shortage of cardboard boxes), bottlenecks can actually occur in the short term - but only for individual packaging sizes." You are continuously adapting your supply chains to overcome the bottlenecks.

The company pointed out that consumers could switch to other packaging sizes in the short term. The "Bild" newspaper had previously reported on the problems. The newspaper quoted a wholesaler as saying that the shortage is clearly noticeable. Among other things, Philip Morris has a plant in Kharkiv in the Ukraine, which was shut down at the end of February because of the war. The company left open whether the delivery problems in Germany were related to the situation in the plant.

The bottlenecks at Marlboro are not unique. The Association of the German Smoking Tobacco Industry (VdR) announced that delivery bottlenecks were also becoming more visible in the tobacco industry. "The shortage of cardboard boxes is also a problem for tobacco companies, since certain pack sizes are currently no longer available," said VdR Managing Director Michael von Foerster. He justified this with the global supply chain problems and the scarce cargo space in ships. "The problem is also getting bigger for companies in the tobacco industry, as the cost increase in production and delivery costs is clearly noticeable." The VdR represents medium-sized companies from the German tobacco industry.

The Federal Association of the Tobacco Industry and Novel Products (BVTE), which represents all major tobacco companies except Philip Morris, said: "Our member companies are not affected, we have no delivery problems."