China Tobacco International to set up North Carolina tobacco-buying office

China Tobacco International (CTI) has said that it intends to open an office in North Carolina, USA, according to a Southeast Farm Press story.

The office is expected to serve as the base for CTI’s North American leaf-buying operations, which is likely to include purchases from both leaf dealers and farmers.

“China Tobacco’s decision to open an office here is a major statement about how much it values North Carolina tobacco,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler.

“My staff and I have been working to boost exports of tobacco for several years now, and we think CTI’s presence in our state will mean even more opportunities for our farmers.”

Meanwhile, Zhanhua Liang, president of U.S. China Tobacco International, said that while CTI had investigated setting up office in various U.S. states, it was decided that it was better to be in North Carolina and therefore close to the farmers. In addition, Troxler’s department and the local governments had helped CTI make the decision to move to North Carolina.