Research On Leaf Tobacco Export Marketing Strategy Of Shandong Tobacco I & E Company

The Global economy has not recovered substantially since the Euro-US financial crisis of 2008. Under the ever strengthening global anti-tobacco movement, tobacco policy keeps tightening with respect to government taxation and this has lead to a global decline in cigarette sales. In 2013, global cigarette sales declined by 3% (excluding the Chinese market), and in the Euro-US market, sales have reduced by 7%. In contrast to this, global leaf tobacco production is constantly increasing which has lead to supply exceeding demand and it seems this trend will continue for the foreseeable future.Chinese leaf tobacco is playing a more important role in the global tobacco market and in the last 20 years since the formation of the China Tobacco Import and Export companies, Chinese leaf tobacco exports have achieved 8% market share in the international market, which covers about 70 countries and regions. This has been achieved primarily with low-grade filler leaves, but a lot of changes have been taken placed in China since 2010 due to the adoption of STMA’s new policy-" Cigarette Improvement" strategy, which has caused a change in trends for leaf tobacco production. The buying grades have been upgraded year by year, causing a reduction in traditional low-grade export resources and this in turn places tremendous pressure on China Tobacco’s exports.Due to leaf tobacco exports being the main business of Shandong Tobacco I & E Company, with export quantities reaching 40% in the whole country historically, it has now suffered the lowest market share because of this global market trend, domestic policy as well as its products’problems. The company’s key goal now is to adjust the export structure in order to expand export market share in China. It will need a reliable program based on the actual situation it finds itself in to achieve this target.This paper is based on the actual situation after extensive research and it shows the current situation Shandong leaf tobacco is facing. It is guided by the theory of Marketing and Strategic Management after extensive analysis of the tobacco export marker, the competitive situation as well as all of the market opportunities. Further analysis of the current sales of Shandong leaf tobacco, further highlighted the problem, and an export marketing strategy for the future has been developed in combination with the relevant supporting measures to ensure the strategies can be implemented smoothly.