BETTER DEAL A farmer in Pangasinan hangs newly harvested tobacco leaves in a barn. —FILE PHOTO
MANILA -Floor prices of various tobacco grades are expected to increase by P3.90 to P9.90 per kilogram in the next two trading years after the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) finalized negotiations on price hikes with buyers and farmers.
According to the NTA, Virginia tobacco grades will increase by P9.90 per kilo in the 2024-2025 trading period.
This adjustment comes as among the highest in the last two decades, with the largest increase at P10 a kilo applied in the 2008-2009 trading years.
At the same time, the NTA said they had agreed to raise the floor prices of burley and native tobacco by P5.90 and P3.90 per kilo, respectively.
Virginia, burley and native are the three varieties of tobacco grown in the Philippines.
“We aim to improve our industry by helping one another to balance the economic significance of tobacco as one of the highest contributors to the government coffer,” Agriculture Undersecretary Deogracias Savellano said in a statement on Thursday.
Farmers’ plea
Tobacco farmers have been pushing for higher floor prices since earlier this year, citing an increase in imports and labor.
The NTA convenes the tripartite conference every two years to review and fix tobacco floor prices based on prevailing factors and conditions, such as the world market, production costs, and reasonable margin of profit for farmers, dealers, manufacturers and exporters.
In the 2022-2023 trading years, the floor prices of Virginia top grades stood at P86.10 to 87.10 per kilo. High grades of burley were at P72.10 to P75.10 per kilo, while the native top grade was at P77.10 per kilo.
NTA data show that the tobacco industry brought P149.7 billion in revenues for the government in 2020 alone.
It also provides livelihood to at least 2.1 million people, including at least 430,000 farmers and farmworkers, the NTA said.
Ilocos Sur is currently the biggest producer of Virginia tobacco in the Philippines, with a 61.8-percent share from the P15.1 billion in excise taxes on locally manufactured Virginia-type cigarettes in 2020. INQ