Expansion will support company’s U.S. mission
to deliver a smoke-free future as it moves legal-age consumers who
smoke to better alternatives
Expansion to deliver additional $277 million
annually in regional economic impact*
New hiring to increase plant workforce by 40
percent
Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE: PM) is announcing
an investment of $232 million through one of its Swedish Match
affiliates to expand production capacity of its manufacturing
facility in Owensboro, Ky. The expansion is expected to create an
additional 450 direct jobs with an ongoing annual economic impact
of $277 million and an additional 410 indirect jobs* for the
commonwealth of Kentucky. The facility produces ZYN nicotine
pouches to help meet the growing demand from legal-age consumers
switching from cigarettes or other traditional tobacco
products.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240827299400/en/
Philip Morris International's Swedish
Match affiliate is adding 450 jobs at its Owensboro facility to
expand capacity to help meet increasing demand for smoke-free
products. (Photo: Business Wire)
“Philip Morris International’s Swedish Match affiliate has been
an important partner and job creator in this region for many years,
and I’m excited to see this incredible new investment and the 450
great job opportunities it is creating for families in Owensboro
and the surrounding region,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said. “Our
economy continues to set records, and today’s announcement shows
we’re bringing jobs to our people instead making our people move to
the jobs. I want to thank and congratulate company leadership for
doubling down here in the commonwealth and look forward to many
more years of prosperity.”
“Smoking cigarettes is the most harmful way to consume nicotine.
We are accelerating our mission toward a smoke-free future, working
with our U.S. affiliates to move adults away from cigarettes and
other traditional tobacco products by providing better
alternatives,” said Stacey Kennedy, CEO of PMI’s U.S. business.
“This investment in U.S. manufacturing capacity will increase the
Kentucky plant’s workforce by about 40 percent, providing
good-paying jobs and helping to meet the increasing demand for
smoke-free products.”
Construction of the expanded facility is already
underway—including the addition of more production space—with
progressive production increases expected during the project.
Completion is targeted by the second quarter of 2025. The
construction phase of the project alone is expected to create
nearly 2,800 jobs with about $414 million in economic impact.*
Career opportunities at the facility will cover a wide range of
skill levels including positions such as engineers, production
staff, technicians and quality control. Career opportunities can be
found here.
In addition to facility expansion and ongoing optimization of
processes to increase capacity progressively over the coming
quarters, the Kentucky facility will move from a 24-hour,
five-days-per-week schedule to a 24-hour, seven-days-per-week
schedule to boost production starting in the fourth quarter of this
year. The Swedish Match Owensboro facility currently has about
1,100 employees. The ongoing expansion of the facility in Kentucky
is expected to provide around 900 million cans of capacity for
2025.
In July, PMI announced an investment of $600 million over the
next two years through its U.S. affiliate to open a nicotine pouch
manufacturing facility in Aurora, Colo. The Aurora facility and
Owensboro expansion together are designed to provide capacity
needed in the near- and mid-term to meet the current growth rate of
ZYN with U.S. legal-age nicotine consumers.
PMI first entered the U.S. market following its subsidiary’s
acquisition of Swedish Match AB in late 2022. Swedish Match’s ZYN
oral nicotine pouches have been on the market in the U.S. for more
than a decade and are designed as a better option for legal-age
consumers who smoke or use other traditional tobacco products and
wish to continue using nicotine.
PMI is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and its U.S.
affiliates have more than 2,300 employees. PMI is on a mission to
improve public health by providing the nearly 30 million legal-age
U.S. consumers who smoke and other legal-age nicotine users with
innovative products that are better alternatives to continued
smoking. Since 2008, PMI has invested $12.5 billion globally to
develop, scientifically substantiate, and commercialize innovative
smoke-free products for legal-age nicotine consumers. PMI’s U.S.
affiliates operate smoke-free product manufacturing facilities
including the Swedish Match North America Owensboro, Ky., plant
that makes ZYN nicotine pouches and a facility in Wilson, N.C.,
that produces HEETS, the consumable for the IQOS heated tobacco
device. Swedish Match North America has a regional office in
Richmond, Va.
U.S. marketing practices support 21+ access only
PMI’s U.S. affiliates are committed to responsible marketing
practices focused on limiting access to adults 21 years of age and
older. PMI’s U.S. affiliates do not use social media influencers in
the U.S. or people under the age of 35 in marketing materials. They
also employ independent age-verification systems like “Double
Verify” to direct digital advertising to those over 21, and owned
digital platforms are age-gated at the point of access and
restricted to current nicotine users of legal age. Swedish Match
North America is a Manufacturer Advisory Council member of the We
Card Program, a national nonprofit serving retailers of
age-restricted products, and a founding board member and investor
in TruAge®, a free retail technology that provides stores a more
accurate way of age verification, including the ability to detect
fake IDs to ensure 21+ access only.
Smoke-free mission in the U.S.
Because adult nicotine consumer preferences differ, PMI’s U.S.
affiliates are working to offer a range of smoke-free options. This
effort includes investing in expanded production for nicotine
pouches and beginning targeted 21+ consumer activations of its
innovative IQOS heat-not-burn device in select U.S. markets this
year. IQOS is the first electronic nicotine device authorized by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a modified risk
tobacco product with reduced exposure claims. The FDA found that
such authorization is appropriate for the protection of the public
health. Although not risk-free, studies show that because IQOS
heats tobacco instead of burning it, the device significantly
reduces the production of and exposure to harmful and potentially
harmful chemicals compared to combustible cigarettes for adults who
smoke who switch to IQOS completely.
Commitment to corporate social responsibility
PMI’s U.S. affiliates have contributed approximately $25 million
to charitable causes since 2022 and look to accelerate and amplify
the good work of organizations already active within communities
through both financial contributions and volunteering. Three key
focus areas include supporting military veterans, empowering women
and funding hyperlocal solutions. PMI’s U.S. affiliates also helped
form “United to Safeguard America from Illegal Trade” (USA-IT), a
coalition of nearly 100 national and state brand enforcement
experts, law enforcement agencies, academics and leading business
organizations working to combat illegal trade. USA-IT has trained
more than 36,000 law enforcement officials.
Philanthropic partnerships in Kentucky
PMI’s U.S.-based affiliates have donated nearly $2.25 million to
Kentucky area philanthropies over the past two years including
$500,000 for tornado and disaster relief and to organizations such
as Lady Veterans Connect, Disabled American Veterans Charitable
Service Trust, Fresh Start for Women, Veterans Empowered Together,
Owensboro/Daviess County Habitat for Humanity, Boulware Mission,
Daniel Pitino Shelter and Oasis Owensboro Area Shelter Information
and Services.
*Estimates provided from economic impact analysis study
conducted by EConsult Solutions, a Philadelphia-based economics
consulting firm.
Additional multimedia assets
To learn more about the Swedish Match Owensboro, Ky.,
manufacturing expansion, view the video assets here: Video News
Access Link.
Philip Morris International in the U.S.: Delivering a
Smoke-Free Future
Philip Morris International and its U.S. affiliates are working
to deliver a smoke-free future. Since 2008, PMI has invested $12.5
billion globally to develop, scientifically substantiate and
commercialize innovative smoke-free products for adults who would
otherwise continue to smoke with the goal of transitioning
legal-age consumers who smoke to better alternatives. In 2022, PMI
acquired Swedish Match – a leader in oral nicotine delivery –
creating a global smoke-free champion led by the IQOS and ZYN
brands. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized
versions of PMI’s IQOS electronically heated tobacco devices and
Swedish Match’s General snus as Modified Risk Tobacco Products and
renewal applications for these products are pending before the FDA.
For more information, please visit www.pmi.com/us/ and
www.pmiscience.com.
Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
This press release contains projections of future results and
goals and other forward-looking statements, including statements
regarding expected operational performance; capital expenditures;
and business plans and strategies. Achievement of future results is
subject to risks, uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions. In the
event that risks or uncertainties materialize, or underlying
assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could vary materially
from those contained in such forward-looking statements. Pursuant
to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, PMI is identifying important factors
that, individually or in the aggregate, could cause actual results
and outcomes to differ materially from those contained in any
forward-looking statements made by PMI.
PMI's business risks include: excise tax increases and
discriminatory tax structures; increasing marketing and regulatory
restrictions that could reduce our competitiveness, eliminate our
ability to communicate with adult consumers, or ban certain of our
products in certain markets or countries; health concerns relating
to the use of tobacco and other nicotine-containing products and
exposure to environmental tobacco smoke; litigation related to
tobacco and/or nicotine use and intellectual property; intense
competition; the effects of global and individual country economic,
regulatory and political developments, natural disasters and
conflicts; the impact and consequences of Russia's invasion of
Ukraine; changes in adult smoker behavior; the impact of natural
disasters and pandemics on PMI's business; lost revenues as a
result of counterfeiting, contraband and cross-border purchases;
governmental investigations; unfavorable currency exchange rates
and currency devaluations, and limitations on the ability to
repatriate funds; adverse changes in applicable corporate tax laws;
adverse changes in the cost, availability, and quality of tobacco
and other agricultural products and raw materials, as well as
components and materials for our electronic devices; and the
integrity of its information systems and effectiveness of its data
privacy policies. PMI's future profitability may also be adversely
affected should it be unsuccessful in its attempts to introduce,
commercialize, and grow smoke-free products or if regulation or
taxation do not differentiate between such products and cigarettes;
if it is unable to successfully introduce new products, promote
brand equity, enter new markets or improve its margins through
increased prices and productivity gains; if it is unable to expand
its brand portfolio internally or through acquisitions and the
development of strategic business relationships; if it is unable to
attract and retain the best global talent, including women or
diverse candidates; or if it is unable to successfully integrate
and realize the expected benefits from recent transactions and
acquisitions. Future results are also subject to the lower
predictability of our smoke-free products performance.
PMI is further subject to other risks detailed from time to time
in its publicly filed documents, including PMI's Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2023,
and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the second quarter ended
June 30, 2024. PMI cautions that the foregoing list of important
factors is not a complete discussion of all potential risks and
uncertainties. PMI does not undertake to update any forward-looking
statement that it may make from time to time, except in the normal
course of its public disclosure obligations.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240827299400/en/
Philip Morris International PMI U.S. Communications Matt
Sheaff +1 (203) 524-9146 matthew.sheaff@pmi.com
Philip Morris (NYSE:PM)
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