Andhra Negotiators Jockey for Position

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 08/05/2011

The Indian Tobacco Association's (ITA) plan to reduce its leaf purchases next year is a ploy to prevent the Tobacco Board from pressuring it to raise buying prices in the ongoing auctions, according to a Times of India story. The ITA has asked the board to fix the Andhra Pradesh crop size at 120 million kg for 2011-12, down from 170 million kg in 2010-11, citing a decline in export orders. But the board chairman, G Kamalavardhan Rao, has said that it is not possible to announce such a big reduction in crop size in one year. The board is planning to meet with ITA representatives in late August or early September to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, tobacco auctions in Andhra are expected to continue until September this year, extending the usual February-July selling season by two months, according to a story in the latest issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter. Partly this will have been due to the fact that the Andhra and Karnataka selling seasons overlapped by more than is usual this year, with the Karnataka sales extending into April. Enditem