Update on the STG Closure Of Sutliff and Mac Baren

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buroak

Lifer
Jul 29, 2014
2,127
1,033
NW Missouri
Yeah, the prices for tobacco in the UK are shocking if you're not used to it. Every year they add on extra taxes. I think we'll see a £20 carton of 20 cigarettes within the next 4 years, which is mental. They love shit like that over here in nanny state central. They've already brought in a sugar tax which is added to any food/drink that goes over a certain level. They keep talking about bringing in unit pricing for alcohol which will put up the cost even more. It's all in the name of public health, of course. Nothing to do with raising more in tax. Definitely not.
The sad thing is that I think it really is more about rooting out the last recalcitrant tobacco smokers than raising revenue. Tobacco control is a quasi-religion.
 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
12,931
21,689
SE PA USA
When I google it every result forecasts growth in the next 4-6 years. Here is one example: Pipe Tobacco Market By Size, Share and Forecast 2028 | TechSci Research - https://www.techsciresearch.com/report/pipe-tobacco-market/19268.html

I am biased to believe in this market because I don’t want to retire and not any good pipe tobacco.
Doesn’t that read like an AI generated POC? All derived from freely available internet gibberish, with zero citations to back up the numbers.
 

buroak

Lifer
Jul 29, 2014
2,127
1,033
NW Missouri
STG is getting quite the hate there for ruining blends. Those who have not made up their minds yet, it is just an opinion

1. STG makes fine blends and a lot of people all over the world enjoy it. Just because some members here are very vocal does not mean that’s the general consensus
2. Everything evolves. Taking a car analogy there is not much similarity between the first generation Corvette (C1) and modern day (C8) but they are both called Corvette
3. People may restore and love the C1 Corvette due to nostalgia but objectively C8 is a much better car. Similarly if most people like STG made blends, that’s what matters.
4. General Motor kept building the Corvette and killed the Pontiac Aztec. Most people think it is a good thing. Similarly, STG will consolidate the portfolios and stop making blends which hardly anyone buys

I will get off from my soapbox now, but I felt sad seeing STG getting badmouthed so much 😀
There has been acknowledgment that STG make some good tobaccos. They have not always been stewards of their acquisitions. That is, at least for me, the concern.
 

mr_future

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 4, 2024
117
161
Central Texas
Doesn’t that read like an AI generated POC? All derived from freely available internet gibberish, with zero citations to back up the numbers.

Fair enough. Some more confirmation for my bias is Google AI:

The pipe tobacco market is expected to grow in the coming years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.65% from 2022 to 2028.
 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
12,359
18,581
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
They have not always been stewards of their acquisitions
Sometimes an acquired company is to be quickly stripped of its assets to realize a quick profit and remove the competitor. Maybe even entice some of the acquired customers to another product from their line. Staying profitable requires agility very often.
 

Brendan

Lifer
Look at Austraila... That pipe tobacco might cost a thousand bucks a pound in 20 years.

...and it gets worse.

You are about 25 years too late there, funken-howser, yearly tax increases over the past decade puts us at about $150+ AUD for a 2oz tin at the moment, so actually about $1200 a pound if you were to buy 8 tins to make up the 16oz/pound.

In the meantime we have a serious black market for cigarettes and an out of control vaping habit amongst kids, if you can imagine that.

Mind you that's in Aussie dollars, so divide that by 8 or whatever to get USD 🙄

In 20 years time I'd imagine buying tobacco in Australia would compare to buying a car in cold war times, USSR.
I'll leave it at that, but this is what happens when people who want to live in a nanny state get to vote.
 

karam

Lifer
Feb 2, 2019
2,607
9,961
Basel, Switzerland
Doesn’t that read like an AI generated POC? All derived from freely available internet gibberish, with zero citations to back up the numbers.
Altria’s and BAT’s stocks are doing very well, and appear to have a lot of upside potential based on fundamentals (price to earnings, earnings growth, free cashflow, growing dividends, debt).
 
Dec 6, 2019
5,179
23,795
Dixieland
...and it gets worse.

You are about 25 years too late there, funken-howser, yearly tax increases over the past decade puts us at about $150+ AUD for a 2oz tin at the moment, so actually about $1200 a pound if you were to buy 8 tins to make up the 16oz/pound.

In the meantime we have a serious black market for cigarettes and an out of control vaping habit amongst kids, if you can imagine that.

Mind you that's in Aussie dollars, so divide that by 8 or whatever to get USD 🙄

In 20 years time I'd imagine buying tobacco in Australia would compare to buying a car in cold war times, USSR.
I'll leave it at that, but this is what happens when people who want to live in a nanny state get to vote.

It'll be like that here in time. Nuclear war or the sun exploding might stop it, otherwise it won't be stopped.

There isn't a soul that'll stand up to it in Washington.

Like you say, the majority of people do want it this way.
 

sardonicus87

Lifer
Jun 28, 2022
1,407
14,269
37
Lower Alabama
...and it gets worse.

You are about 25 years too late there, funken-howser, yearly tax increases over the past decade puts us at about $150+ AUD for a 2oz tin at the moment, so actually about $1200 a pound if you were to buy 8 tins to make up the 16oz/pound.

In the meantime we have a serious black market for cigarettes and an out of control vaping habit amongst kids, if you can imagine that.

Mind you that's in Aussie dollars, so divide that by 8 or whatever to get USD 🙄

In 20 years time I'd imagine buying tobacco in Australia would compare to buying a car in cold war times, USSR.
I'll leave it at that, but this is what happens when people who want to live in a nanny state get to vote.
According to Google, that $150 AUD is $97 USD per 2 oz tin. Meanwhile, after taxes, I think I pay maybe... $15-$18 for a 2 oz tin in USD if the tin costs like, $12? I haven't paid much attention to taxes that come out, I just know without shipping, a regular 2 oz tin is about $10-15.

Let's see, my last order was $115.65 (sub total) and the tax was $10.41 bringing the total to $126.06 for two 3.5oz/100 gram tins an a 16oz/1 lb box (though one of those tins and the box were on sale at the time), which would be apparently $194 AUD.

For reference though (because pipe tobacco is taxed different than cigarettes), a carton of (10 packs, 200 class a cigarettes) Camel Wides costs me $102 USD after tax currently.
 
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buroak

Lifer
Jul 29, 2014
2,127
1,033
NW Missouri
Let's parse this:

Way too late for that. STG bought Mac Baren and they have no intentions of selling it or Sutliff.

Peterson tobaccos are made by STG. They own the Peterson's TM for pipe tobacco.

You are kinda cute, kid!
I know it’s too late. I’m just in that stage of grief.

I should’ve specified: I meant Laudisi had been good to Peterson pipes.

Gee thanks, mister!
1732528727885.gif
 

Pipke

Can't Leave
Aug 3, 2024
429
1,368
East of Cleveland, Ohio. USA
This is why I miss a political scientist named James C. Scott. He was the best at explaining the state as counting, categorizing, and controlling entity. He was no fan of control by massive corporations, either.
Not just counting, categorizing, and controlling, but fear and war mongering too. They get their way by leveraging people's most thoughtless instincts - pride, fear, greed, envy, wrath, sloth...
 

pappymac

Lifer
Feb 26, 2015
3,582
5,128
Slidell, LA
Good analogy. I agree with your last point; I propose we all switch instead to badmouthing the Pontiac Aztec. That's one of the ugliest damn cars I've ever seen! 🤮

I saw Angelyne in her pink Corvette several times back when I lived in LA. I just can't picture her in a pink Aztec. :eek:
Take a look at some of the other SUVs that came out around the same time as the Aztec. There was a lot of difference in body shape and style. It seems that what most people hated was the plastic cladding along the sides that made it look ugly. The Aztec did have a couple of features that have since become normal - the sliding storage tray in the back for example. I also liked the "tent" accessory that you could hang on the open hatch. Didn't use it for camping but it came in handy on Mardi Gras parade routes.

I owned one and drove it for for five years until it was almost paid off. It had over 150K miles on it.
 
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Jul 28, 2016
8,094
42,995
Finland-Scandinavia-EU
@cshubhra I was also thinking about cars when reading this thread, but from another angle: I love internal combustion engine vehicles, and have sub-zero interest for electric ones. I was talking to a friend/colleague the other day (incidental and irrelevant but he's Indian), he was telling me he loves electric cars, I was telling him they do nothing for me. I just can't enjoy electric cars or automatic transmissions. His point is that they all get you from A to B, my point was that you don't really control the vehicle, skill of the driver doesn't play much of a part. You can't really enjoy a curvy road in a car like a Tesla, despite its handling and acceleration.

I feel tobacco will eventually go the way of the internal combustion engine: consolidation, standardization, sanitization. I believe in 20 years there'll be very little of either around except perhaps cigars, historical vehicles and professional diesel vehicles. Still diesel can't be beaten for reliability and range and I doubt, at least in the US with its big distances, that they'll die out. I believe diesel's life is going to be short in Europe.

At least I can't see alcohol going away ;)
I fully agree, yet got to mention, I would not like to be one whos have to pay for service /fixing up costs on these the hybrid or electric cars after they've been driven daily for 20 + years
 
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