Balkans and Turkey Oriental Tobacco Crop

Report
May 2, 2019
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Turkey saw its 2016 crop output at 76 million kilograms. Specifically, the Izmir variety achieved 53
million kilograms, of which 52 million were exported, yielding an average price of EUR7.09/kg.

Macedonia saw its 2016 crop of Prilep and Yaka decline to an estimated 28 million kilograms versus 33
million in the year prior. Yet the country Macedonia is now ranked second-largest oriental producer at
47% of Turkish total output, and 50% larger than the world’s number three producer, Greece. Top
quality Prilep AB has been fetching prices above EUR3.00/kg, equivalent to the green leaf price of
Turkish Izmir.

ALSO: Oriental Tobacco: Important Yet Under the Radar

Greece is thought to have grown about 18.5 million kilograms of classical oriental tobacco in 2016,
made up of about 12 million kg of Basma, and about 6.5 million kg of Katerini. But yields of both Basma
and Katerini were said to have been down because of dry weather, which, by way of compensation,
nevertheless created excellent quality Katerini crop and above-average quality Basma.

Bulgaria saw its 2014/15 crop output of Krumovgrad and Bulgaria North reach 16 million kilograms,
versus an abnormally low 2015/16 crop of only 12 million kg. Pricing has been low in the absence of a
clear government policy on tobacco growing subsidies. Farmers had been demonstrating against the
low prices, which they claimed to be below production cost.

(Source: Star Agritech International; published October 2018; with additional editing by TOBACCO
ASIA)
Historically, classical oriental tobacco (COT) production has been associated with tradition, which, looked at
from one viewpoint, was epitomized by the often-exquisite packaging of the relatively tiny leaves of the
highest quality tobaccos while, looked at from another direction, it was personified by the huge amount of
labor that went into forming such presentations—such works of art.

Of course, while such traditions encompassed values that transcended the field of economic activities,
many of them could not survive the shifts in business priorities that gathered pace, especially during the
final quarter of the 20th century. Consequently, changes were gradually introduced to the way that COTs
were produced so as to conform to new marketplace and social realities while safeguarding the essentials:
the unique tastes and aromas that these tobaccos imparted to the smoker.

But even with such changes having gathered pace during the past 10 years or so, it is somewhat surprising
to learn that two major developments in the field of COTs came to fruition in 2020, a year that most
businesses and industries, including the tobacco industry, were glad to see the back of.
Nikos Tzoumas, managing director of Missirian and president of the Hellenic Inter-professional
Organization, told me in November that, after nine years of hard work and substantial investments by his
company, VIT SA, and Philip Morris International (PMI), a second model of the HMO-2020-2R oriental
tobacco harvesting machine was ready for the market.

The new harvester had been tested and trialed during the summer of 2020 when it was used to harvest
crops in four stalk positions, Tzoumas said. With only two people, the machine proved capable of
harvesting eight hectares of oriental tobacco during a season—up to 12 tons of cured oriental tobacco,
which is a far cry from traditional harvesting in which teams of hired labor and family members have to
undertake back-breaking work in high temperatures to bring in the tobacco by hand. Little wonder, then,
that Tzoumas said farmers, especially younger ones, were eager to embrace such new technology.

Meanwhile, the curing of the leaves, which, with the advent of mechanical harvesting, caused a bottleneck
in the process, has been sped up with the use of a system initiated and supported by PMI over a number of
years. The harvested tobacco is placed by hand in long gauze “socks” through which the air can pass and
which can be hung in the shade in an otherwise traditional way. Apart from the speed of the new process,
it has the advantage of doing away with the strings on which the tobacco was previously threaded and
hung and which could end up as nontobacco-related material, a bane of the manufacturing process.

Gauze curing

Another 2020 marker saw the arrival of a new pure line of Basma seed, the fruition of a project initiated by
Missirian in 2013 and co-financed by PMI. Tzoumas said the aim of the project had been to develop a new
Basma variety that could provide higher yields than were obtainable with existing varieties while retaining
the stable, desirable agronomic and quality characteristics of Basma.

The project was undertaken by the Centre for Research & Technology Hellas at the Institute of Applied
Biosciences in Thessaloniki under professors Panagiotis Madesis and Eirini Nianiou-Obeidat. They used
conventional plant breeding techniques and molecular markers but without producing genetically modified
plants. And, after eight years of work, the project was concluded with the researchers having developed the
F10 lines with the requested specifications. The new seed is expected to deliver a 20 percent increase in
farmers’ yields with quality maintained.

An application has been made to the Greek Ministry of Agriculture for registration of the new genotypes.

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Turning to more immediate matters, the marketing of 2020-grown oriental tobaccos started in November
and is due to end next month or in March. From what could be estimated at the end of November, Greece
had produced 8,500 tons of Basma, down 20 percent from the 10,600 tons grown during 2019, along with
4,500 tons of Katerini, down 12 percent from 2019’s 5,100 tons. North Macedonia was estimated to have
grown 27,000 tons of Prilep, up 3 percent from the 26,200 grown the previous year; and Bulgaria was
estimated to have produced 5,000 tons of Krumovgrad, the same amount as was grown last year, 500 tons
of Katerini, down 38 percent from the 800 tons of 2019, and 600 tons of Basma, up 50 percent from the
400 tons of 2019.

8500+4500=13000 -2020

10600+5100=15700 -2019

Грција

Бугарија -5000+500+600=6100 -2020

5000+800+400=6200 -2019

Farmer yields were described as favorable in all growing areas, and estimated production is generally in line
with contracted quantities, except in North Macedonia, where 2020’s estimate of 27,000 tons was 17
percent above the contracted 23,000 tons. The quality of the 2020 crops was described as medium, with
Basma quality better than that of the 2019 crop, Katerini quality being about the same, and the quality of
the Prilep and Krumovgrad crops being lower.

Demand seems to be weaker than it was last year, especially for A grades.

Турција Македонија Грција Бугарија

2013 80 000 27 800 24 000 17 000
2014 61 000 27 600 26 000 16 000 (13 000) М
2015 55 000 24 000 22 000 12 000 (9000) М
2016 55 000 25 400 18 500 (22 000 )м 9 000
2017 68 000 23 000 19 000 9 500
2018 55 000 25 500 15 800 *
2019 26 200 15 700 6 200 (6480 в
ФАО)
2020 41 000 * 26 000 13 000 4250 (5440 в ФАО)

Македонија од 2016 година станува втор производител во светот на ориенталски тутуни 1.

https://staragritech.com/crop-report/ *

Податоци за ориентални тутуни прозиводство

1
Source: Star Agritech International; published October 2018; with additional editing by TOBACCO
ASIA
https://staragritech.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Crop-Report-2021.pdf

Year Value
2007 6165555
2008 6647501
2009 7164720
2010 6975586
2011 7508568
2012 7571943
2013 7590928
2014 7301516
2015 6720939
2016 6270031
2017 6293612
2018 6120254
2019 6457737
2020 5886147

Albania Бугарија Грција Македонија Турција

2007 900 41130 29359 22056 74584
2008 1300 42424 27062 17087 93403
2009 1600 51322 26776 24122 81053
2010 1700 41056 22000 30280 53018
2011 1900 40607 23900 26537 45435
2012 2000 28060 24000 27333 73285
2013 2900 36446 26690 27859 93158
2014 3000 29996 40940 27578 74696
2015 2200 23480 37031 24237 75000
2016 1980 15211 37865 25443 74238
2017 1358 13040 32712 22885 93666
2018 1693 8640 22730 25547 75276
2019 1403 6480 22530 26234 70000
2020 1438 5440 20870 26112 76540
Земја 2019 Земја 2020
Кина 261269 Кина 2134000
5
Бразил 769801 Индија 761335
Индија 757996 Бразил 702208
САД 212260 Зимбабве 203488
Индонезија 197250 Индонезија 199737

Зимбабве 184584 САД 176635

Сите останати 172423 Сите останати 1708744
6
Вкупно 645882 Вкупно 5886147
2

Земја 2019 Земја 2020

Кина 261269 Кина 2134000
5
Бразил 769801 Индија 761335
Индија 757996 Бразил 702208
САД 212260 Зимбабве 203488
Индонезија 197250 Индонезија 199737

Зимбабве 184584 САД 176635

 Сите останати 172423 Сите останати 1708744
6
Вкупно 645882 Вкупно 5886147
2

Графикон 1

3000000

2500000

2000000

1500000

1000000

500000

0
Кина Бразил Индија САД Индонезија Зимбабве Сите останати

2019 2020