Tobacco demand grows to record 86m kilos

The demand for tobacco has been set at a record 85.8 million kilograms for the next year, significantly higher than the current year’s 53.575m kg, leaf managers and growers told Dawn on Wednesday. The high requirements, announced by the buyers through the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB), have sent officials of multinational and national tobacco companies scurrying around the fields to secure agreements with farmers, sometimes on the spot. Tobacco demand from buyers was 45.6m kg in 2019 and 56.48m kg in 2021. Growers and company officials agreed that the next year’s demand of 85.8m kg was a record high. The requirement for flue-cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco — used in cigarettes — is the highest at 82.7m kg, including 71.7m kg in the plain areas, 10m kg in sub-mountain regions and 1m kg in Punjab.