Universal Cuts Burley Tobacco Estimate on Africa

Source from:  By Antony Sguazzin June 25 (Bloomberg)  06/26/2007

Universal Corp., the world's biggest tobacco-leaf merchant, cut its forecast for global production of burley tobacco by 5.9 percent after reassessing crop estimates for Malawi and Mozambique. The company, based in Richmond, Virginia, forecast a world burley tobacco crop of 657 million kilograms (1.45 billion pounds) this year in an e-mailed report on June 22. That compares with a 698 million-kilogram forecast made last month. Malawi's ``crop estimate has been reduced by 25 million kilograms as a result of a recent crop survey,'' Universal said. Malawi, the biggest producer of the variety, is likely to reap 85 million kilograms this year while the estimate for neighboring Mozambique was cut by 5.5 million kilograms to 35 million kilograms. Last year's world burley crop was 727 million kilograms. Universal cut its forecast for flue-cured tobacco to 3.899 billion kilograms, from 3.904 billion kilograms, and left its estimate for oriental tobacco unchanged at 271 million kilograms. The 2006 global flue-cured crop was 3.847 billion kilograms while 355 million kilograms of oriental tobacco were reaped, with Turkey dominating production. In its first forecasts for the varieties, Universal estimated a global dark air-cured tobacco crop of 158.4 million kilograms, 2.6 percent more than last year, and a dark-fired tobacco crop of 46 million kilograms, 37 percent more than last year. Philippine Increase Flue-cured tobacco is dried in a closed barn with heat piped from a furnace. Burley is cured in the open air. Oriental tobacco is used in flavored tobaccos while dark air-cured and dark fire-cured are lower-quality varieties. The increase in the dark air-cured crop estimate is due mainly to an expected surge in production in the Philippines to 11.4 million kilograms from 3.9 million kilograms. Cuba is the biggest producer. The dark-fired crop will likely be boosted by bigger crops in the U.S., the largest producer, and Indonesia. To contact the reporter on this story: Antony Sguazzin in Johannesburg asguazzin@bloomberg.net Enditem