According to the latest trade data released by the General Administration of Customs of China, in March 2024, China's export of e-cigarettes to the UAE was approximately $10.73 million, a decrease of 26.78% compared to the previous month and a decrease of 36.49% compared to the same period last year. The export volume also followed a similar trend, at around 263 tons, a month-on-month decrease of 32.26% and a year-on-year decrease of 12.16%.
Although March is typically a period when China's foreign trade volume and exports start to rise each year, due to the impact of the Chinese New Year holiday in February which affects trade activities, this year, the data for China's e-cigarette exports to the United Arab Emirates in March showed an unusually significant decrease.
Recently, industry insiders revealed to 2FIRSTS that due to the impact of the ban on disposable e-cigarettes in the UK, the overall European disposable e-cigarette market is in a slump, leading to a large amount of unsold inventory that is being dumped into the Middle East market. Industry insiders speculate that this may be a contributing factor to the decrease in export volume of Chinese e-cigarettes.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the phenomenon of dumping European stocks in the Middle East has been occurring since around March of this year, with prices of some products dropping to less than 10 Chinese yuan.
Analysts point out that the Middle East region, due to its geographic proximity to Europe, relatively lenient regulations on e-cigarettes, and similar consumer preferences to Europe, has become an ideal reselling destination for e-cigarette products that cannot be sold in the European market.
2FIRSTS will continue to follow this topic, stay tuned.
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