The Hindu : National : Hundred million kg of tobacco for auction in A.P.

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Tuesday, Sep 02, 2008
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Hundred million kg of tobacco for auction in A.P.

Ramesh Susarla

GUNTUR: The curtain on Karnataka’s Flue-Cured Tobacco auctions goes up on September 10 with high expectations on the price to be realised on the platforms, going by the great season the State’s farmers had this year with the highest price touching Rs. 142 a kilogram, though for a brief period of 10 to 15 days.

About 100 million kilograms of leaf is expected to be offered this season, though 2.5 to 3 million kg of leaf got damaged during the recent rain.

Early ripening

Farmers had to pluck the leaf early due to early ripening and lack of storage facility, which hit the crop towards the end of the season.

Taking these factors into consideration, farmers and traders expect at least 90 million kg of quality produce to come on to the platforms.

Traders concerned

Traders are worried over the sharp rise in buying, processing and stocking costs before turning it over to international importers.

This could put them at a disadvantage as importers were very stringent with quality norms and the recent incident of Japanese Tobacco International (division of JTI) and Phillip Morris rejecting 2.5 million kg of Indian tobacco as non-tobacco residue material was found in the consignment.

The key foreign material was plastic shreds from fertilizer/pesticide bags.

Higher price

The Tobacco Board proposes to begin auctions at Rs. 90 a kg., against last year’s highest closing price of Rs. 68 a kg., according to Board Chairman J. Suresh Babu.

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