Philip Morris Receiving Station Changed its Location
Published on January 25th, 2012 00:00
A few days ago Philip Morris representative declared that the company’s receiving station has already moved from Danville to near Yanceyville, N.C.
Philip Morris USA has been buying tobacco at the Piedmont Big Sale Warehouse within the past 11 years. The company informed its contracted farmers at the end of November that it would accept burley tobacco this buying season already at the facility in Blanch, N.C., according to Philip Morris USA representative Ken Garcia. Contracted farmers would bring next season’s flue-cured tobacco to the new facility. “We decided to move the station because we believe that it will improve the effectiveness in the tobacco buying process and also to guarantee advanced parking and up-to-date facilities to supply tobacco growers who deliver at that station,” Garcia stated.
The Richmond-based cigarette producer, part of Altria Group, didn’t thought that the short distance would be such a trouble for farmers, Garcia added.
Small-scale tobacco farmer Donnie Moore, who grows flue-cured tobacco together with his son in the Callands-Rondo area, stated that each time a facility moves away, it is a great loss to Danville and Pittsylvania County.
“I think that it would be better that they stay in Danville,” said Moore, who signed a contract with Philip Morris USA.
Even if the distance is not so great, it is more inconvenient for those tobacco growers who live farther north, he said.
But the most important thing is the price buyers will give for their tobacco, he said. Moore said that farmers drive a long way in order to catch more advantageous prices, mostly as expenses continue to grow. The co-owner of the Piedmont Warehouse, Harry Lea said that there are some ideas to reopen the Piedmont Big Sale Warehouse as a receiving station for a U.S. based industrial establishment with a vast international customer base. Lea declared that he plans to make an announcement in the coming week.
