Altria Group Inc., the leading tobacconist in the United States has decided to raise prices on the major smokeless tobacco brands by 10 cents per tin.

The retail price on flagship Scoal and Copenhagen went up from $2.39 to $2.49, the price on recently launched Copenhagen Wintergreen will rise from $1.45 up to $1.55 per tin. The price on Husky brand will remain unchanged.

According to Altria, smokeless tobacco category is key one for the company, and it expects this category to increase its presence on the tobacco market. Currently, smokeless tobacco accounts for 65 of U.S. tobacco market.

Industry analysts predict that Reynolds America, the second-largest tobacco company, will follow the steps of its arc-rival and increase prices on Grizzly and Kodiak, its major smokeless brands.

On May 10 Altria implemented a 8-cent price increase on its 18 cigarette brands, including legendary Marlboros, L&M, Parliament, Basic, Virginia Slims and other brands.

The company’s shareholders met on the 2010 Annual Shareholders Conference held last week to discuss the company’s revenue expectations for the first half of 2010 and the challenging economic environment for the industry.

As regards numerous lawsuits - another significant issue for the company, Altria CEO Michael E. Szymanczyk also said he is more than confident that the Marlboro-maker can withstand the wave of litigations filed to Florida court against the company.

Altria Chairman admitted that lawsuits have been a reverse side of the medal for tobacco business, after one of the shareholders asked whether Altria would revise its strategy of denying settling legal action, taking into account the number of the suits in Florida.
More than 9,000 individual lawsuits have been opened in the courts across Florida, after the Florida Supreme Court abolished a class-action litigation seeking $145 billion in damages, but permitted the members of the class-action to initiate individual claims.

In mid-May, Philip Morris won a lawsuit filed to a Duval County court by the relatives of a smoker.
Murray Garnick, vice president for Altria Client Services said they consider that the jury correctly ruled that the plaintiff didn’t manage to provide evidence proving her case, and the court reach correct ruling regardless of the fact that the trial court approved an unjust trial proceedings, which have infringed Florida legislation and the constitution, according to the federal court that has revised the mentioned proceedings.

Nearly 4000 individual claims related to the Engle case are still pending in the courts across Florida and have been put on hold by the state appeals court due to the legal issues, which originate from permitting the plaintiff to use the rulings prior to Engle case.

Another issue, which interested the shareholders, was the participation of the company experts in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Scientific Advisory Committee which examines the effect of menthol cigarettes on public health.

Szymanczyk said the company would work together with the FDA and establish the regulatory action the Agency would take over menthol cigarettes, which account for over 25 percent of U.S. cigarette market.

By Sara Norton, Staff Writer. Copyright © 2010 Cigarette-Store.org. All rights reserved.