KT&G's business goes up in a puff of smoke every day. As South Korea's leading cigarette manufacturer, KT&G enjoys about a 70% market dominance and exports its smokes under more than 20 different brand names to the US, China, and Central and Southeast Asia. The firm escaped government control in 2002 and has since added bio and pharmaceutical production, and real estate alongside its core cigarette manufacturing business. KT&G's products are also distributed in Russia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates. The firm got its start in 1899 as the Korean imperial household's exclusive supplier of tobacco and ginseng.

Nat Sherman makes and sells premium cigars, cigarettes, pipes, tobacco, and smoking accessories (ashtrays, cigar cutters and cases, humidors, lighters) throughout the US and in more than 40 countries worldwide. Exclusive brands include Fantasia (cigarettes), Maduro, Metropolitan, and Gotham (cigars). Run by the third-generation of the Sherman family, Joel Sherman (company president) and his son Bill (EVP), the firm operates a showroom on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street in New York City and manufactures its products in Greensboro, North Carolina. The company was founded in the 1930s by its namesake, the tobacconist Nat Sherman.

Philip Morris International Inc manufactures and sells cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States of America. The company's portfolio comprises international and local brands. Its primary international brands include Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company's local brands principally include A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in Russia; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, the Middle East and Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Atlantic Dominion has built a business on providing convenience to the masses. As part of its distribution arm, the company supplies more than 15,000 products -- including beverages, groceries, snacks, tobacco, and general merchandise -- to retailers across the US. It also services vending machines, providing fixture installation, product ordering, CO� gas and dry ice services, and repair. Customers include convenience stores, supermarkets, drugstores, tobacco merchants, and US military bases. Originally a seller of handmade cigars, Atlantic Dominion was founded by Leroy Davis in 1875. The company remains family owned and is led by Robin Ray, the founder's great-granddaughter.

British American Tobacco p.l.c., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of tobacco products. The company offers cigars and cigarettes under the Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Vogue, Viceroy, Rothmans, Kool, Benson & Hedges, State Express 555, Peter Stuyvesant, and John Player Gold Leaf brand names. It also sells Swedish-style snus, a form of smokeless tobacco. The company has operations in Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and America-Pacific. British American Tobacco p.l.c. was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Conwood loves a bear market when it comes to moist snuff and other smokeless tobacco products. It makes the Grizzly, Kodiak, Hawken, and Cougar brands of moist tobacco and is the second-largest maker of smokeless tobacco products in the US. Conwood also makes loose-leaf tobacco (including Morgan's, Levi Garrett, and Taylor's Pride brands), snuff (Garrett and Dental brands), and an assortment of other smokeless tobacco (including twist, moist, and plug). It also makes Captain Black flavored little cigars. Conwood is renaming itself American Snuff in 2010. It was acquired by Reynolds American in 2006 for $3.5 billion. It now generates about 8% of Reynolds American's annual revenue and its sales continue to grow.

ITC walks with the other giants of the Indian business world -- Tata and Reliance. Primarily, the company makes cigarettes and tobacco, as well as papers and packaging. It manages lines of branded apparel, personal care products, and prepackaged food. ITC also runs hotels and exports agricultural commodities (including rice, wheat, and lentils). The company is India's second-largest exporter of agri-products. Its major brands include India Kings, Insignia, Navy Cut, Scissors, and Gold Flake (cigarettes); Wills Sport and John Players (clothing); Kitchens of India and Aashirvaad (prepackaged food); and Expressions (greeting cards). It is also parent to one of India's leading technology companies, ITC Infotech.

Altria Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in the United States and internationally. The company also manufactures machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco; and maintains a portfolio of leveraged and direct finance leases principally in transportation, including aircraft, as well as power generation and manufacturing equipment and facilities. It serves wholesalers and distributors, large retail organizations and chain stores, and the armed services. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

PT Gudang Garam deals in droves of cloves to make fragrant clove cigarettes, called kreteks. Founded in 1958 by the Wonowidjojo family, Gudang Garam blends cloves with tobacco to produce more than 70 billion cigarettes annually. The company owns a 514-acre tobacco complex on eastern Java that includes machine-made and hand-rolled cigarette operations. Gudang Garam is affiliated with other firms involved in banking, investing, and polyester film production. The company's dominance in Indonesia is under fire from Philip Morris International, which acquired rival PT Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna in 2005. Suryaduta Investama owns about 67% of Gudang Garam.

PM USA is an operating company of Altria Group, Inc., a Virginia corporation whose stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (MO).PM USA is more than 150 years old. The history of our company can be traced back to Philip Morris' 1847 opening of a single shop on London's Bond Street, selling tobacco and ready-made cigarettes. In 1902, Philip Morris & Co., Ltd. incorporated as a small tobacco company in New York City. In 1960, Philip Morris was the smallest among the six major tobacco companies in the United States. By 1983, PM USA had become the largest cigarette company in the country.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.