This week, King Tobacco, the tobacco giant owned by Japanese conglomerate JBS, said it would discontinue production of some of its Japanese brands.
The move comes as Japan’s economy has slowed in recent years, and some companies are losing money on their tobacco product sales, but they say their products are still worth buying.
A King spokesman said that the company will be shutting down its Japan Tobacco Co. (JTC) brand of cigarettes, saying that JTC’s Japanese brands have not gained sales and profits in recent months.
King said that it plans to keep making new brands in Japan but has no immediate plans to make any new tobacco products in the U.S.
The decision comes after the company’s Japanese tobacco division had planned to discontinue some of the brands in 2018, but that plan was canceled.
A JTC spokesman told The Hill that the new decision came as a result of ongoing negotiations between the company and the Japanese government.JBS was formed in 2010 by the Japanese conglomerate Suntory.JTS, which is based in Japan, was founded in 2007.
The company produces about one-fifth of the world’s cigarettes, according to Bloomberg.JTC is Japan’s second-largest tobacco maker, behind Tokyo-based Japan Tobacco.
Its tobacco brand, JT, is made in the country and has a loyal following in Japan.
The company also produces cigarettes in several other countries, including the U!
States.
The news comes a few weeks after JBS announced plans to merge with JTS, but it did not specify what the new company would be called.JT and JTS have been trading at $1.14 each on the Tokyo stock exchange.
Jts shares have been gaining in recent weeks.
The Japanese tobacco industry is facing tough times as the economy struggles to recover from the global financial crisis, and Japan’s tobacco sales have fallen.
JTS was founded by Japanese billionaire Nobuo Uematsu in 2001 and was sold to Japan Tobacco Corp. in 2009.