Crop Surpluses Depress Prices on Indian Auction Floors

Source from:  Tobaccoreporter.com, July 28, 2004 07/29/2004

Tobacco auctions in Andhra Pradesh, India, are wrapping up this week. The country's tobacco board reports that 140 million kg of leaf has been sold at an average price of 35.54 Indian rupees (INR1=US$0.02) per kg. Prices on the auction floors have been down due to a surplus of leaf. Farmers produced 145 million kg of tobacco this year, which was well over the authorized crop size of 111 million kg. Farmers in the southern black soils have also produced a surplus. They grew a total of 50 million kg against the authorized crop size of 31.56 million kg.