SIC 2131 Chewing and Smoking Tobacco and Snuff

Contenidos

• NAICS CODE(S).
• FURTHER READING.

SIC 2131

This industry consists of establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing chewing and smoking tobacco and snuff. Other tobacco product industries are discussed in SIC 2111: Cigarettes; SIC 2121: Cigars; and SIC 2141: Tobacco and Redrying.

NAICS CODE(S)

312229

Other Tobacco Product Manufacturing

By the mid-2000s the U.S. smokeless tobacco industry generated more than $2 billion and continued to be dominated by UST Inc., the nation's largest manufacturer and distributor of chewing tobacco and snuff, with $1.85 billion in 2005 sales. The longtime runner-up, Conwood Sales Co. L.P., was acquired in 2006 by Reynolds American for $3.5 billion in cash. Reynolds American was formed in 2004 as a result of a merger between R.J. Reynolds and Brown and Williamson. However, Conwood won a $1 billion judgment against UST after it was determined that UST attempted to keep Conwood products out of stores. Several other companies, including Swedish Match North America Inc. (formerly Pinkerton Tobacco Co.), National Tobacco, and Swisher also compete for a small percentage of this industry.

UST, with its Skoal and Copenhagen brands, consistently accounts for the vast majority of sales in the moist snuff category and is the overall sales leader for smokeless tobacco. The...