Growers suffer as tobacco prices crash
Purchase of flue-cured Virginia is underway.—Photo by the writer SWABI: Tobacco growers are facing severe difficulties in selling their crop, with traders and small cigarette manufacturers offering rates more than 50 per cent below the official price, growers said on Saturday. The purchase season for flue-cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco is in full swing across growing districts of Khyber…
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, tobacco growers are encountering significant challenges in selling their flue-cured Virginia crop, with traders and small cigarette manufacturers offering rates that are more than 50% lower than the official price, according to local farmers. The purchase season for FCV tobacco is underway across growing districts.
The total requirement for the current year stands at 61.627 million kg, with 58.184m kg designated for cigarette manufacturing. However, major cigarette manufacturers, Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC) and Philips Morris International Pakistan, are only buying from growers who have existing contracts, while several contracts have expired as companies reduced their 2026 procurement quotas.
One grower from Shahmansoor, Tamirz Khan, was forced to burn five bundles of FCV in protest when traders offered him a paltry Rs350 per kg, which does not even cover his production costs. The Ministry of National Food Security and Research had set the minimum support price for FCV at Rs740 per kg for the year, but only the multinationals are purchasing at this rate, causing severe distress for growers.
Rejections at purchasing centers are adding to growers' woes, with most small companies waiting for the multinationals and major national buyers to complete their announced purchases. Once the surplus tobacco is declared, growers anticipate prices to fall further before making large-scale purchases, similar to what happened last year.
In 2025, PTC alone procured 39 million kg of surplus tobacco, with other buyers also taking up their respective surplus quotas, especially small cigarette manufacturers. A leading national company official revealed growing rivalry between multinationals and domestic firms, alleging that the two multinationals aim to maintain their market dominance and eliminate smaller companies.
However, multinational company officials blamed national companies and small manufacturers for market disruptions, urging the Pakistan Tobacco Board to hold these firms accountable to their commitments and prevent further turmoil. The growers' discouragement and financial vulnerability due to buyers' policies this year are evident.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
