PM: "P" is for prepared. "M" stands for mightily.

Alrtia's PMI is probably doing the best job of anyone on the international scene of preparing for a future in the tobacco business.

• Just today, PMI announced it is buying an additional 30% in it's Mexican business with partner Grupo Carso.


• PMI announced plans to close its North Carolina plant and move production overseas (probably to Europe). The move is expected to save the company over US$300 million by 2011.


• Some of that money may be going to a US$20 million dollar investment to renovate a warehouse in Subic Bay in the Phillipines to be a gateway into the Asian marketplace. They eventually plan to invenst US$80 million in a facility in Subic Bay or in Singapore. Could they be foreseeing an liberalized Chinese market? No strong signs on the horizon, but I don't have the high-level contacts that PMI does. I just bottom feed what hits the net.


• This month they've released a line Marlboro Kreteks (clove cigarettes) in Indonesia. Marlboro is a big seller among traditional "white stick" cigarettes in the market, but Kreteks still reign supreme. Kreteks have mades some inroads in western markets for young hipsters wanting an international feel. The Indonesian market is one of the world's largest, but one wonders if this could alsobe a way to eventually attach a familiar name with an exotic twist for the specialty stores of Europe and North America...

Meanwhile, PMUSA has invested US$350 million in a research facility to open next month. The facility will be mirrored on the pharmacutical industry, which must use scientific proof to push new drugs and even drug-related language onto the market. This comes in the face of a Democratic Congress that may lead the way to give t he FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products.

Overall PMI is doing quite well, while PMUSA is down. And with the North American Market continuing it's slide into regulated and socially-disdained oblivion, the future doesn't look so bright.