Tobacco: Overview
Cigarettes, cigars and the newer heated products
What this tab covers What the commodity is used for, why, in what volumes and with what alternatives, and its chain from mine or field to end user. Also the latest price moves, top recent news, three things to know, and buttons into each tab.Key uses
| Use | Share | Annual volume | Why this commodity | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cigarettes (blends of flue-cured Virginia, burley and oriental leaf) | n/a | Philip Morris International alone shipped 607.4 billion cigarettes in 2025; China's state monopoly is the largest makerbasis | Cigarettes remain the main use of leaf worldwide. Flue-cured Virginia gives a bright, mild smoke and is the base of most blends; burley and oriental add body and aroma. Brand owners buy specific grades and styles each year and age them before blending to keep taste consistent. PMI 2025 fourth-quarter and full-year results (Business Wire, 5 February 2026) | Heated tobacco and e-cigarettes Nicotine pouches Nicotine replacement therapy |
| Heated tobacco units (IQOS and similar) | n/a | PMI shipped 155.1 billion heated tobacco units in 2025, 19.7% of its 786.5 billion total units (derived); smoke-free products were 41.5% of PMI net revenuebasis | Heated tobacco sticks use reconstituted tobacco that is heated rather than burned, which companies market as lower-risk. They still need leaf, so leaf demand falls less than cigarette volumes as smokers switch. PMI 2025 full-year results | E-cigarettes (no leaf) Nicotine pouches (synthetic or extracted nicotine) Cigarettes |
| Bidis and smokeless tobacco (India and South Asia: khaini, gutkha, zarda) | n/a | In India 21.4% of adults used smokeless tobacco and 10.7% smoked (28.6% used any tobacco)basis | Most Indian tobacco is not used in cigarettes. Bidis (sun-cured leaf rolled in tendu leaf) and chewing tobacco are cheap and lightly taxed compared with cigarettes, so they dominate among poorer users. This is why India grows large volumes of non-FCV tobacco in Gujarat and elsewhere. GATS-2 India 2016-17 (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, WHO) | Cigarettes Areca nut products Cessation aids |
| Cigars, roll-your-own, pipe and waterpipe (hookah) tobacco | n/a | n/a basis | Dark air- and fire-cured leaf from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia and Brazil goes into cigars; fine-cut leaf into roll-your-own. Taxes per stick are often lower than for cigarettes, which keeps these segments alive in Europe. Qualitative | Cigarettes Heated and electronic products |
| Nicotine extraction (e-liquids, pouches, pharmaceuticals) | n/a | n/a basis | Nicotine for e-liquids, oral pouches and nicotine replacement therapy is mostly extracted from tobacco leaf and scrap, often from lower grades that cigarette makers do not want. Synthetic nicotine competes in some markets. Growth of these products shifts some leaf demand from cigarette grades to extraction grades. Qualitative | Synthetic nicotine |
From field to user
- Seedbeds and transplanting Seedlings are raised in float trays or beds and then transplanted; India's FCV crop in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka is planted under Tobacco Board registration.
- Growing, topping and harvest Flower heads are removed to push growth into the leaves, which are primed (picked) as they ripen. World cured-leaf yield averaged 1.84 t/ha in 2024 (FAOSTAT).
- Curing Flue-curing in heated barns (Virginia), air-curing (burley) or sun-curing (oriental, bidi leaf) sets the type.
- Sale Auction platforms run by the Tobacco Board in India and by TIMB in Zimbabwe, or contracts with merchants (Brazil's integrated system).
- Threshing and redrying Merchants (Universal, Pyxus, ITC's leaf business) separate lamina from stem, redry and pack leaf in cartons.
- Ageing and export Packed leaf is aged for a year or more; Brazil shipped 561,000 t in 2025 (Tobacco Insider).
- Manufacture and sale Cigarette and HTU makers blend and manufacture; governments tax heavily at the retail stage.
Price movement snapshot 2026-10-25
Tobacco, US import u.v. (World Bank monthly) 6,775 $/mt Month 2026-07 1 week no daily price 6 months -2.6% World production 6.05 m tonnes, 2024 Largest producer China 37.31% of worldThree things to know
- Tobacco made up 48% of Malawi's total exports in 2013-2017 (Radetzki & Wårell).
- World tobacco output in 2024, 6.05 million tonnes, was lower than in 1990, when it was 7.14 million tonnes.
- China grew 37.3% of the world's tobacco in 2024 yet was also the largest importer, with 18.1% of import value.
Top recent news snapshot 2026-10-25, last 30 days
- Centre approves one-time interest-free loan of ₹50,000 per barn for Andhra tobacco farmers — How will credit come?Livemint · 2026-09-26
- Kicking the butt alone won't do itThe New Indian Express · 2026-10-23
- White Zimbabweans return to farmingThe Economist · 2026-10-04