Tobacco output seen surpassing 42 M kg this year

The country’s tobacco production this year could expand to a three-year high of over 42 million kilograms on the back of higher demand and better prices, the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) said.

NTA Administrator Belinda Sanchez said government interventions coupled by favorable climatic conditions and higher buying prices would push tobacco output to surpass last year’s production of 42 million kg. The buying price of prime class

flue-cured Virginia tobacco has reached as high as P113 per kg, way above its P97 per kg floor price, according to the NTA’s monitoring.

The prime class of both air-cured Burley and Native tobacco fetched as much as P100 per kg, higher than their approved floor price of P81 per kg, the NTA added.