RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Cigarette maker Philip Morris International says it's signed deals to buy 10 percent of its tobacco from farmers in Brazil.
The world's largest nongovernmental cigarette seller says it the deal with two leaf suppliers to source tobacco leaf from about 17,000 growers there. As part of the deal, it says it will offer jobs to more than 200 people, most of them agronomy specialists.
The agreements with subsidiaries of Alliance One International and Richmond-based Universal Corp. Both suppliers are U.S.-based but have brazilian subsidiaries.
The deals are subject to Brazilian government approval and are expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter.
