Universal’s Dominican Facility Suffers Major Fire

At around 6:00 a.m. Monday morning, a fire broke out at Inetab-Kaubeck S.R.L., Univeral Corp.’s leaf sorting and sales facility in Moca, Dominican Republic.

Universal is not a cigar company, rather, it’s a multi-faceted, multi-national tobacco supplier that grows tobacco and does things like processing and sorting for a long list of clients that likely includes nearly every major cigar company in the world.

In a letter sent to clients of Universal obtained by halfwheel, Philipp Schumacher—managing director for Inetab-Kaubeck—said that there was “a material loss of tobacco and one part of the warehouse affected.” The letter says that staff was not on-site at the time of the fire and there was no loss of lives. A cause of the fire was not listed.

Video of the fire showed a large warehouse that appeared to still have tobacco in it, but images shared with halfwheel show a mostly empty building with remnants of tobacco on the floor and tables as well as char marks around the walls and standing water on the floor. In a subsequent video, Henderson Ventura, of Tabacalera William Ventura and ADV & McKay Cigars Co., said that it is one of eight buildings at Inetab-Kaubeck and one that focused on Connecticut broadleaf and Pennsylvania tobaccos.

“We thank all emergency services present and specially the fire departments from Moca and multiple other locations in the Cibao area for their assistance to the fire,” said Schumacher. “Thanks to their tireless efforts, it was controlled swiftly.”

Universal is a publicly-traded tobacco company (NYSE:UVV) with operations in more than 30 countries around the world. The company is one of the dominant tobacco suppliers to both the premium cigar industry and other tobacco segments. Inetab-Kaubeck is the company’s Dominican operation, which serves the country’s large premium and mass-market cigar industries, many of which are located in Santiago, about 10 miles outside of Moca.

“Inetab-Kaubeck, over the years, has been characterized by prioritizing the integrity of our people, by the dedication, passion and effort in what we do and in our processes,” said Schumacher in a letter. “Despite being a very difficult time to face, our main commitment is the well-being of our collaborators, to whom we say today that we will emerge from this with more strength to continue.”

A Universal spokesperson did not immediately return an email from halfwheel.