A Report on Brazilian leaf crops in 2019

BRAZILIAN LEAF

Flue-cured Virginia was up, burley was down, but neither by much.

From Staff Reports

A new report from the leaf firm Hail & Cotton says that the flue cured crop in Southern Brazil had acceptable yields and produced a volume slightly over last year’s.

FLUE CURED/VIRGINIA — At the end of March, 100 percent of the Flue-cured Virginia crop had been harvested. Cured tobaccos from the Coastal area were showing lighter color with good cutting quality. Yields were within expectations. By production area:

Rio Grande do Sul—Lower stalk was light orange-to orange and the upper stalk was deep orange with some mahogany incidence. Quality appeared average.

Santa Catarina—Lower stalk was more on the orange side, and the upper stalk was orange to deep orange. The quality was reported average.

Paraná—The lower stalk showed light orange color. On the other hand, the upper stalk is presenting deep orange to mahogany color suggesting a fair quality.

For all flue-cured in 2019, planted area was 275,000 hectares, up 15,000 hectares from the year before. The yield was 2,220 kilograms per hectare, down slightly from 2018. Volume was 610 million kilograms, up 30 million pounds from 2018.

BURLEY — Burley harvesting was finalized during the month of February with cured tobaccos presenting tan color and average to good quality.

Harvesting of the Galpão Comum was finished during the month of March, and quality is average thanks to adverse weather conditions.

Total burley planted area was 35,000 hectares, down 2,000 acres from the year before. The yield was 1,950 kilograms, just 50 kilograms less than 2018. Volume was 64.3 million kgs, down almost 10 percent from 2018.

BRAZIL BAHIA / FILLER — Rainfall during the second half of the growing season was very scarce. Crop yield was greatly reduced.

A reduction of 50 percent compared to the previous year was expected. Luckily, there were additional rainfalls at the end of the growing season, and even some time after that.

They helped produce a somewhat bigger volume than initially thought. It also helped to keep the buying prices at an almost normal level.

The volume estimate now is 950 green metric tons,, compared to 1,400 in the previous season.

Buying season was over by the end of February and all in all farmers are relatively satisfied with the crop result, despite the difficulties in the beginning.

BAHIA MATA FINA WRAPPER — Production of the current crop is estimated at 65 packed weight metric tons compared to 100 metric tons for the previous crop.

All tobaccos from the previous crop have been packed and will soon be shipped to customers.

All tobaccos from the current crop are still undergoing fermentation. Soon the selection and grading process of the lower primings will begin.

SOURCE OF CONTRABAND CIGARETTES GOES DOMESTIC IN BRAZIL

There’s been a change in the source of illicit cigarettes in Brazil, according to press reports. Contraband cigarettes have traditionally come to Brazil from neighboring Paraguay. But recently, many local production sites for illicit and counterfeit cigarettes were found in Brazil itself, and law enforcement expects more to be found. Other developments in the Brazilian cigarette market:

• Souza Cruz, the local subsidiary of British American Tobacco and leading Brazilian cigarette manufacturer, has recently closed its production plant in the state of southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul. The state had been responsible for the production of around 20 percent of its cigarettes in the country.

• In contrast to Souza Cruz, the second biggest manufacturer in the country, Philip Morris International, has made greater commitments in the state. PMI’s production plant is located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its operations and central office are located in the state of Paraná, also in the south.

• Cigarette sales continue to fall in Brazil. Consumer concern with living healthy has been one of the main factors.

LEADING CIGARETTE BRANDS AMONG BRAZILIAN SMOKERS

The 10 top cigarette brands in Brazil in 2018 (with percentage of smokers) according to a recent survey conducted by Cint are Marlboro 5.62%; Dunhill 3.71%; Hollywood 3.27%; Carlton 2.82%; Free 2.63%; Camel 2.52%; Lucky Strike 2.23%; Derby 2.19%; L&M 1.46%, and Black 1.41%.