Multinationals Begin Buying Surplus Tobacco

Multinational tobacco companies have started purchasing surplus tobacco from growers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ending a delay of more than 40 days that left farmers waiting and out of pocket. Pakistani firms, however, have yet to begin buying.

Philip Morris International started purchases on Tuesday, October 27, and the Pakistan Tobacco Company followed on Wednesday, October 28. The two multinationals will buy about 20 million kg of the 47 million kg surplus crop, with Pakistani companies expected to take the rest.

A deal agreed in Peshawar

The purchases follow a meeting at the Pakistan Tobacco Board’s head office in Peshawar last week. Officials from tobacco-purchasing companies, entrepreneurs and representatives of tobacco unions agreed that the surplus crop, 47 million kg in total, would be bought from growers.

“It was unanimously decided at the Peshawar gathering that purchase of surplus tobacco will commence on Oct 26 or 27, but minor hiccups delayed the process by a day,” said Nasir Khan, general secretary of the Kashthkar Coordination Council.

Growers had four main demands at the meeting. They wanted companies to announce their quota for next year, issue and honour agreements with growers, pay farmers through banks, and hold a tobacco expo in the tobacco-growing areas instead of Karachi.

The delay had real consequences. Companies stopped buying tobacco on September 15, and growers say the government stayed silent for weeks about what would happen to the surplus crop. During that time, farmers watched their crop sit unsold while their costs mounted.

Growers say the board failed them

Farmers’ leaders were blunt about the Pakistan Tobacco Board’s role. They said the board failed to adopt a strategy for buying surplus tobacco over the last 40 days, and that such a long delay was perhaps unprecedented.

“The PTB’s representatives always toe the companies’ line during meetings, leaving the poor growers high and dry,” alleged Muhammad Ali Dagiwal, who heads the Pakhtunkhwa Kashthkar Jirga. He said it was the joint responsibility of the federal ministry of National Food Security and the board to adopt a strategy under which all national and multinational companies buy tobacco from farmers in line with the tobacco marketing law.

Growers also fear the delay was deliberate. They said companies may have held back so they could buy the crop at lower prices later. Iqbal Shewa, patron-in-chief of the Kashthkar Ittehad Association, put a figure on the damage: “Growers have already lost Rs6.5 billion this year due to low prices. And now they will have to bear a further loss of Rs8bn because of the late purchase.”

Surplus tobacco prices: what farmers will be paid

The ministry of National Food Security has announced minimum indicative prices for the surplus crop. Flu-cured Virginia will fetch Rs545 per kg in the plains and Rs615.90 per kg in mountainous areas. White Patta and other types are priced at Rs262.60 per kg, dark air-cured tobacco at Rs316 per kg, naswar, snuff and hookah tobacco at Rs388.90 per kg, and sun-cured Virginia at Rs350.20 per kg.

These prices are the floor, not a ceiling, but growers argue they still leave many farmers short after a season of rising costs. The crop is grown mainly in Swabi, Mardan and Charsadda districts, where thousands of small farmers depend on tobacco as a cash crop.

Why this matters beyond the tobacco fields

Tobacco is one of the few cash crops that gives small farmers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a reliable income, and the buying season sets the tone for the year ahead. When purchases stall, farmers cannot repay loans, buy seed for the next crop or meet household expenses.

Related coverage from Feature Pakistan

• Farmers were earlier forced to sell their crop at lower prices in the tobacco belt.
• In agriculture finance, agriculture financing crossed Rs1.3 trillion this year.
• The government also approved a five-year roadmap for kinnow exports.
• On the business front, the government raised Rs1.9 trillion in a treasury bill auction this week.

Frequently asked questions

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• Dawn, “Multinationals begin buying surplus tobacco” (29 October 2026): https://www.dawn.com/news/2040571