Philippines: New Tobacco Floor Prices Agreed in Tripartite Forum

Source from:  Philippine Information Agency‎ 10/19/2015

The local tobacco industry got a boost after the approval of increased floor prices of all types of tobacco during a tripartite conference initiated by the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) recently.

NTA Administrator Edgar D. Zaragoza said tobacco farmers, traders and manufacturers gather in a forum every two years and discuss appropriate tobacco prices to cope with the unabated increase of prices of farm inputs.

"The tripartite conference (leads to a ) "win-win" situation in deciding the relevant floor prices of the locally-produced tobacco that would allow the farmers to earn better income," Zaragoza said in a phone interview.

He said the newly-approved floor prices for all types of tobacco being produced in the country will be applicable for calendar years 2016 and 2017.

The prices for flue-cured Virginia tobacco (neutral -type) are the following: Grades AA - P81.00 per kilo; A - P79/kilo; B-P77/kilo; C-P75/kilo; D - P68/kilo; E-P67/kilo; F1-P59/kilo;F2-P56/kilo and Reject - P46/kilo.

Previous floor prices of the flue- cured Virginia tobacco (neutral -type) were: AA-P78/kilo; A - P75/kilo; B-P73/kilo; C-P71/kilo; D - P66/kilo; E-P65/kilo; F1-P59/kilo;F2-P56/kilo and Reject - P46/kilo.

For Burley-type tobacco, the new approved floor prices were Grades A -P67/kilo; B-P65/kilo;　C-P56/kilo; D - P45/kilo; E - P44/kilo; F-P37/kilo; and Reject - P28/kilo. Its old floor prices were Grades A -P61/kilo; B-P59/kilo;　C-P53/kilo; D - P45/kilo; E - P44/kilo; F-P37/kilo; and Reject - P28/kilo.

Meanwhile, the new floor prices of the native - type tobacco were High - Grade - P70/kilo; Medium 1 - P58/kilo; Medium 2 - P48/kilo; Low 1 - P40/kilo; and Low 2 - P28/kilo. The old floor prices of tobacco were High - Grade - P66/kilo; Medium 1 - P56/kilo; Medium 2 - P46/kilo; Low 1 - P38/kilo; and Low 2 - P26/kilo.

Zaragoza added the cost of production was the main factor considered in setting up floor prices.

The cost of production was the basis for the adjustment of floor prices of tobacco.

To achieve the maximum prices of locally-produced tobacco, Zaragoza challenged the farmers to produced high- quality tobacco leaves by following the proper technology in tobacco farming set by his office.

This year, the estimated costs of production for each tobacco type per hectare were at least P130,000 for Virginia tobacco; at least P115,000 for Burley and at least P90,000 for native. Enditem