The Hindu Business Line : Second phase of tobacco auction begins today

According to Tobacco Board officials here, till now 1.4 million kg of tobacco has been sold so far on 5 auction floors. The auction began on these floors in the last week of January.

The average price has been Rs 45.95 per kg as against last year's price of Rs 46.67 per kg by this time.

However, it is too early to predict the trading trend as less than one per cent of the total tobacco grown in Andhra Pradesh has been sold so far. The production is more than 100 million kg.

The unseasonal rains in December increased the yield in certain areas of Prakasam and Guntur districts. The crop will come to the auction floors from Monday. According to sources, there may be a substantial surplus in the State as in Karnataka. The Tobacco Board has authorised farmers in Andhra Pradesh to grow 111 million kg but there may be a surplus of 15-20 million kg.

The quality Virginia tobacco from the northern light soil in West Godavari and southern light soil in Nellore and Prakasam districts has not started arriving on the auction floors in full measure due to slackness in external demand.