Big Tobacco is getting even bigger in Lower Hutt as Imperial Tobacco’s Petone maker gears up to send 4 billion cigs a year to Australia. The long-established manufacturer in Richmond St will be multiplied its exports across the ditch and adding 50 new jobs, with a two-year, $45-million promote nearing end. Six new production lines feature German machinery able of spitting out 8000 cigs each minute, approximately half a million per hour. Manufacturing stave amount are increasing from 70 to 120. Most of Imperial’s tobacco products for Australia are manufactured in Sydney by British American Tobacco, but that act runs out in June, with Petone set to profit.
Packages of up to 40 cigs like JPS, Horizon and also Davidoff will be made in Lower Hutt and exported to Australia.
Factory manager Michael McInnarney, who has worked there for more than a decade, declared staff had worked very hard for to convince the British Company that it was worthy of a main enterprise, which could have then gone to somewhere in Asia.
“A lot of other sites were looked at, but it was decided logistically and for transport costs that it made very good sensation to have it in New Zealand,” Mr. McInnarney argued.
