Tobacco, the crisis affects Tuscany

President Neri "When the European funding ends, the sector will become unsustainable". Confagricoltura "In 3 years, 10% of closed companies"

Florence: Tuscan tobacco companies are no longer able to bear the costs of production and the crisis that decimates them may become irreversible. Alessandro Neri, chairman of the Tobacco Products section, warned: "Our 400 companies are going through an extremely critical phase – he says – the sector has already decreased by 10% over the last three years because the price of tobacco was blocked ten years ago. "

" We produce too much price on "Bright" and "Kentucky" tobacco too long, says President Neri. that to produce the first, we must invest about 9,000 euros per hectare and we receive less than 8,000. For Kentucky, that is to say for our Tuscan cigar with full traceability, we invest about 13,000 euros per hectare to recover 9,000 euros. The companies that have invested in the sector, in short, do not see an economic return: we sell tobacco at 270 euros per hundredweight, we should certify 320 euros to avoid falling into the loss. "

Tobacco production in Tuscany is composed of about 400 companies – but 40 have already closed in recent years – and today employs more than 2,000 people between employees and industries. Tobacco is complex to accurate, the entire supply chain is traced from seed to finished product.The tradition and craftsmanship are the main values ​​of this type of production excellence.

"To protect all our workers from these heavy losses, we have to face the banks," said President Neri, who calls for "a stronger commitment from the region to support us."

"There are many historical companies in the sector who, in should, should stop the activity but can not do it until the end of the 2010 PSR, because they've won public tender calls and are working with public funds – explains Neri – we will also suffer in 2020 the 70% reduction of the Pac. of the Community premium per hectare, thanks to which the EU has allowed us to support production. "

The consequence is that" if the lowering of the CAP and the increase in production costs will not be offset by a commercial price adjustment, it will soon be impossible to produce tobacco in Tuscany " concludes the president of the tobacco products section Confagricoltura Toscana