JEMBER (Yosefardi) – Cigarette maker PT HM Sampoerna Tbk (HMSP) had on Thursday (June 13) commenced operation of a new hand-rolled kretek cigarette factory in Jember, East Java.
The new hand-rolled cigarette factory in Jember is the seventh such factory after the company’s six other factories in Surabaya, Malang, Probolinggo and Lumajang, all of which are in East Java.
The new factory, employing 4,500 workers, mostly women, will produce Dji Sam Soe brand kretek cigarette. Currently HMSP holds 45% market share of hand-rolled kretek cigarette in domestic market. Overall, HMSP holds 36.5% market share of cigarette in the country.
Besides the seven hand-rolled cigarette factories, Sampoerna also directly owns three machine-made cigarette factories, which produce both kretek and non-kretek cigarettes.
Cigarette smokers across the country consumed around 70 percent of all machine-made cigarettes, Sampoerna said. Last year, the country saw sales of more than 302 billion cigarettes.