Malawi Tobacco Output to Rise 37% This Year, Commission Says

Tobacco production in Malawi, Africa biggest producer of the burley variety of the crop, will increase 37 percent this year, the state-run Tobacco Control Commission said.

Output will grow to 150 million kilograms (331 million pounds), from 109.8 million kilograms last year, the Lilongwe- based commission said in an e-mailed statement today. The estimate, the commission's final projection for this season, is 11 percent higher than its previous forecast.

Production of flue-cured tobacco, a higher grade of tobacco cured in heated barns, will amount to 23 million kilograms.

Richmond, Virginia-based Universal Corp. will be the biggest buyer of the country's tobacco this year after Alliance One International Inc. announced last month it would withdraw from Malawi.