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Home > What's New > Hurricane has Minimal Impact on Cigar in Nicaragua and Honduras
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Hurricane has Minimal Impact on Cigar in Nicaragua and Honduras
Posted: Wednesday, September 05, 2007
By David Savona and Gregory Mottola
Updated Thursday, September 6
A palm tree is hit by winds near the beach during heavy rain in the City port of La Ceiba, Honduras.
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Hurricane Felix struck Nicaragua as a Category 5 storm yesterday, making
landfall in the northeastern part of the country on the Miskito Coast. At
impact the storm had winds of 165 miles per hour and a storm surge of 18
feet, and it has been responsible for several deaths in the region.
Despite the power of the storm, its impact on Nicaragua's cigar industry
appears to be minimal. Cigar production in the country is concentrated in
Estelí, much farther south, where little of the storm's strength was felt.
The biggest concern for the Nicaraguan cigar industry were the tobacco
fields of Jalapa, which were close to the storm's impact zone in the north,
near the border of Honduras.
"Jalapa's OK -- no problems," said Jorge Padrón, president of Padrón Cigars Inc., which uses tobacco from across Nicaragua.
"Felix…turned south and we became very concerned in it hitting Jalapa. God
thanks, it did not get hit too directly," said Alejandro Martinez-Cuenca,
owner of Joya de Nicaragua. "I have talked to tobacco producer Francisco
Escorcia in Jalapa this morning, and he reports no major incidence in
Jalapa, except the heavy rain last night."
José "Pepin" Garcia, who has a factory in Nicaragua where he makes San
Cristobal and Tatuaje Havana VI cigars, among others, was planning to fly to
Managua this morning. He said the rain might push back the crop slightly,
but should not have a major impact on the country.
The neighboring nation of Honduras also suffered little in terms of tobacco crop damage. Honduras' Jamastran valley is a major growing region and produces most of the tobacco used for Camacho cigars. The region went virtually unscathed.
"I think we really dodged a bullet," said Christian Eiroa, president of Camacho Cigars Inc. "There's always the risk of blue mold, but the weather is warm. I'd be more concerned with blue mold if the weather were cooler."
Blue mold is a devastating mildew that can develop on tobacco crops from excess moisture.
Mike Argenti, president of Cuban Imports Inc., is also concerned with the disease. "I'm not worried about wind damage from the hurricane," he said. "I'm more concerned with blue mold and soil erosion." Argenti has cigars made with Honduran tobacco that are produced in the Honduras American Tobacco S.A. (HATSA) factory in Cofradia, Honduras. The factory is located in the northwestern part of Honduras and is owned by General Cigar Co.
"Everything is absolutely okay. We were very very lucky," said Angel Daniel Núñez, president and chief operating officer of General Cigar. "We only lost an hour of the work day because we sent people home early."
Altadis U.S.A. was fortunate as well. Its Flor de Copan factory, also located in the northwestern part of Honduras, and the employees did not suffer any losses when the storm passed through the area yesterday.
"Thankfully our factory, curing barns and tobacco fields sustained no damage whatsoever from Felix," said Janelle Rosenfeld vice president of advertising for Altadis. "Additionally, our employees reported no damage."
According to the National Hurricane Center, a good portion of Hurricane Felix dissipated once it hit the mountains of Nicaragua and Honduras. Currently, Felix has been downgraded to a tropical depression and is moving through southwestern Honduras.
Photo by Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images
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