China Could up Demand for U.S. Leaf

Source from:  Thursday, Feb. 2, 2006 tobaccoreporter.com 02/06/2006

China could increase demand for U.S. tobacco in the next few years, a Universal spokesperson told farmers in Virginia. Universal Corp. is "cautiously optimistic" about the domestic market, despite the company's decision to close its Danville tobacco-processing plant, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "It's optimism based on facts, not just hope," Todd Haymore, director of external affairs for Univeral, said at a meeting of the farmer advocacy group Concerned Friends For Tobacco. Some of Universal's export customers had removed U.S. tobacco from their cigarette blends in recent years. "If they are going to come back into this market, it is going to take time, because they do not change their blends overnight," Haymore said. Enditem