Tobacco Processing and Blending Services in India

LR Tobacco has been buying, processing and blending leaf since 1958. Alongside our own trade we run tobacco blending services in India for manufacturers, exporters and nicotine extraction plants who want the work done to their specification instead of buying whatever is lying in the market. Threshing, sieving, blending and cutting, on your leaf or ours, out of our works in Kheda district, Gujarat and through our GLT partner in Guntur.

What our tobacco blending and processing line does

Four operations, taken separately or as one run.

Threshing. Lamina is separated from stem. You get lamina on one side and stems on the other, both usable and both saleable. Threshing is done through our GLT partner in Guntur, which is where the Indian threshing capacity sits.

Sieving. Material is graded by particle size. This is the step that decides whether you end up with clean dust, rava or fines rather than a mixed heap that nobody can price. It is also where sand and loose foreign matter come out.

Blending. Lots of different grade, colour, nicotine and origin are mixed to a target. For a manufacturer that usually means hitting a benchmark. For an extraction plant it usually means hitting a nicotine level at the lowest cost per kg of nicotine, which is a different calculation and we treat it as one.

Cutting. Blended material is cut to a set width and packed. Cut rag for cigarette makers is covered in more detail on the cut rag and ready blends page.

Services and typical output

• Threshing: Separates lamina from stem · Output: threshed lamina, stems
• Sieving and grading: Sorts by particle size, removes sand and loose foreign matter · Output: dust, rava, fines, cleaned grades
• Blending: Mixes lots to a nicotine, grade or benchmark target · Output: ready blend, blended dust, blended lamina
• Cutting: Cuts blended material to a set width · Output: cut rag, ready blend for the maker
• Redrying and moisture setting: Brings moisture to the agreed figure for storage or transit · Output: material set to the moisture written on the order
• Packing: Packs to buyer format and marking · Output: bales, bags or cases, format and marking agreed on the order

Toll processing tobacco in India: your leaf or ours

Both work.

Your leaf, our line. You send material in, we process it to your written specification and send it back with a yield statement. This is toll processing tobacco in India in the ordinary sense. Common with buyers who have bought well at auction or from farmers and have no processing of their own, and with exporters who need lamina or cut rag out of leaf they already hold.

Our leaf, your specification. We buy or use our own crop, process it to your spec and sell you the finished material. We have over 100 acres under tobacco and an annual capacity of 25,00,000 kg of raw tobacco, plus procurement across the belt. Our leaf is rain-fed with minimal irrigation, so nicotine runs high, up to 6%, which matters if you are blending for extraction.

A mix of the two. Also normal. You send part of the material, we make up the rest to reach the target you want.

Working to a written specification

Nothing starts until the spec is in writing and both sides have signed off on it. That means the target parameters, the tolerance on each, the output form, the packing and what happens if a lot falls outside. Verbal targets create arguments at delivery, so we do not work that way.

What we report back on toll work:

• Input weight received, by lot
• Output weight by form, so lamina, stems, dust and fines are each accounted for
• Process loss
• Test results on the output. Nicotine is measured in-house by titration on every lot before dispatch. See quality and testing
• Anything rejected, with the reason

If the yield comes out below what we told you to expect, you hear it from us before you get the invoice.

Turnaround on toll processing work

Turnaround depends on the operation, the quantity and where the material has to travel, since threshing runs through Guntur and blending and cutting run out of Gujarat. Turnaround and the minimum quantity we can take on toll are quoted per job, so tell us the operation and the tonnage and we will confirm against the line. Season matters as well. Peak arrival months run tighter than the rest of the year, so tell us your dates early and we will tell you honestly whether we can hold them.

Next step

Tell us what you have, what you want out of it, and by when. Call +91 8000150037 or email hello@lrtobacco.com. If it is easier, send us a sample of your material and we will come back with what it will yield and what the processing will cost.