Growers suffer as tobacco prices crash

Tobacco growers in Swabi are struggling to sell their flue-cured Virginia crop, with traders and small cigarette makers offering rates at discounts exceeding 50 per cent of the official figure, Dawn reported. Growers said on Saturday that buying of the FCV crop is now at its peak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's growing areas. Companies' total requirement for the current year stands at 61.627 million kg, of which 58.184m kg is FCV destined for cigarettes.

Tamirz Khan, a Shahmansoor grower, set five bundles alight as a protest near the Swabi Press Club last week, after traders offered Rs350 per kg. The Ministry of National Food Security and Research fixed a minimum support price of Rs740 per kg, but only multinationals are buying at that rate, a growers' leader said. Rejections at purchasing centres add to the strain, and growers say four of every 10 bundles brought in are often turned away.

A leading national company official alleged that multinationals want to protect their dominance and squeeze out smaller firms. Multinational officials, though, placed the blame on domestic firms and small manufacturers, arguing they had not bought their allocations on schedule. They want the Pakistan Tobacco Board to make those companies honour the purchase pledges they announced, in order to stop the turmoil. Growers feel discouraged and financially exposed by this season's buying policies.