過去三年，美國的手工雪茄進(jìn)口量一直保持增長。今年一季度的數(shù)據(jù)已經(jīng)出爐,，出人意料,，數(shù)字下降。美國雪茄協(xié)會(huì)公布的數(shù)據(jù)顯示,，美國2023年一季度的手工雪茄進(jìn)口量為9550萬支,，同比下降8.8%，2022年一季度這個(gè)數(shù)字是1.047億支,。
三個(gè)主要雪茄生產(chǎn)國的進(jìn)口量都出現(xiàn)了下降,。下降最嚴(yán)重的是多米尼加共和國。多米尼加一季度出口到美國的手工雪茄是2330萬支，同比下降17.1%,。洪都拉斯的出口到美國的雪茄是1590萬支,，同比下降10.7%。尼加拉瓜的出口量是5610萬支,，下降了4.2%,。
在美國一季度的雪茄進(jìn)口量中，尼加拉瓜生產(chǎn)的雪茄占58.7%,，多米尼加占24.4%,，洪都拉斯占16.6%，這三個(gè)國家合計(jì)占美國一季度進(jìn)口總量的99.7%,。
一季度雪茄進(jìn)口總量下降,，有可能是2022年3月份當(dāng)月美國進(jìn)口數(shù)據(jù)太亮眼，最近八年內(nèi)表現(xiàn)最好的3月份,。去年3月,，美國手工雪茄進(jìn)口數(shù)量是4760萬支，對比2021年3月的3640萬支,，以及2023年3月的3780萬支,。
即使這是美國經(jīng)濟(jì)放緩的一個(gè)跡象，也不意外,。畢竟過去三年,，美國手工雪茄進(jìn)口量一直持續(xù)增長。整個(gè)新冠疫情期間,，老茄客抽的更多,，新人也進(jìn)入雪茄市場，這個(gè)時(shí)期被媒體稱為“新雪茄熱潮”,。
2021年是美國現(xiàn)代雪茄行業(yè)有史以來最好的一年,，手工雪茄進(jìn)口量達(dá)到4.56億支，創(chuàng)下了1997年以來的最高記錄,。而2022年,，進(jìn)口量更是達(dá)到了4.645億支。
今年到目前為止,，只公布了一季度的數(shù)據(jù),，今年會(huì)是什么樣的一年，還有很長的路要走,。
Shipments of premium, handmade cigars grew for the past three years. Now, the first data for the year 2023 has come in, and the numbers have decreased. Shipments of handmade cigars for the first quarter of 2023 are down 8.8 percent when compared to the same period in 2022, according to data provided by the Cigar Association of America. Through March, 95.5 million premium cigars were shipped to the United States, compared to 104.7 for the first three months of 2022.
The three major cigar-producing countries all showed a decrease, but the decline was most severe for shipments from the Dominican Republic, the No. 2 exporter of cigars to the United States. Shipments from the Dominican Republic were down 17.1 percent, to 23.3 million handmade cigars. Shipments from Honduras, the third largest exporter, were down 10.7 percent in the first quarter, to 15.9 million cigars. Nicaragua, the leading cigar producer, had a 4.2 percent decline, shipping 56.1 million cigars.
Nicaragua accounted for 58.7 percent of first-quarter shipments, the Dominican Republic shipped 24.4 percent and Honduras shipped 16.6 percent. The trio accounts for 99.7 percent of the handmade cigars shipped to the United States.
Digging deeper, the first quarter report was impacted by an abnormally busy March 2022, which was the busiest March by far in at least eight years. There were 47.6 million premium cigars shipped in March 2022, compared to 36.4 million in March 2021, and 37.8 million in March 2023.
Even if this is the first sign of a slowdown, the decrease is not unexpected. Handmade cigar imports have been growing continuously for the past three years, and grew at impressive rates throughout the pandemic as seasoned cigar lovers smoked more and new cigar lovers entered the market, a time dubbed the “new cigar boom.”
The year 2021 was one of the best ever recorded in the modern-day cigar industry, with premium, handmade imports soaring 25.3 percent over 2020 numbers, to 456 million cigars, a number not seen since 1997. Imports grew by 2.3 percent in 2022, to 464.5 million cigars.
It wasn’t long ago when 300 million imported cigars was the barometer for a good year in the cigar business. With only one quarter recorded for 2023 so far, there’s a long way to go before we know what kind of year this will be.
