East Java Tobacco

Indonesia archipelago has so many island, there are five big islands including Sumatera and Java.  The country has so many natural resources, from mining to plantation.

Tobacco is one of the good commodities from plantation beside palm oil and spices.  Indonesia is one of the big tobacco cultivates and producers in the world; both for cigarette also for a cigar.

Tobacco has grown in Indonesia (at that time the archipelagoes called as Nusantara), since 16th century. The good tobacco seeds coming to Indonesia bringing by some merchant from Portuguese.

That is why the tobacco in Indonesia called as “tembakau” it might be from Portuguese language “Tumbago”.  Actually in Nusantara already has tobacco tree, because some of local native has a tradition of chewing tobacco leaf.

Tobacco from Indonesia becomes popular after introducing by the Dutch in the 18th century. Some of the Dutch merchant bringing the tobacco leafs from Indonesia to Amsterdam and also to Germany to selling in the tobacco stock market.

During Governor Van den Bosch period in 1830, he makes a policy to open tobacco plantation in Java Island, in the area of Semarang, Central Java.

But that is not success yet.  In the year of 1856, the Dutch tried again to open new tobacco plantation, but this time they open the plantation in Besuki, East Java.

The plantation bigger than in Semarang, the seeds are combining between seeds from Kedu of Java and from Deli from North Sumatera. They got a success with this variety.  Two years later, they open new plantation in Klaten, Central Java, for new variety for cigar.

Unti today, Besuki, Klaten and Deli become a central of cigar tobacco that mostly for export, mainly to Europe. In the International market tobacco from Besuki and Klaten knowing as Java tobacco, and tobacco from Deli called as Sumatra tobacco.

Not like the tobacco from Deli that usually uses for cigar wrapper.  Tobacco leaf from Besuki and Klaten uses both for filler, binder and wrapper.

Besides exporting tobacco leaf, Indonesia also exporting a local product cigar, mainly to China, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. Tobacco business in Indonesia also handles by the state owned company, called as Nusantara Plantation Company Limited or PTPN.

In east Java operated under PTPN X (10th PTPN).  Besides exporting tobacco leafs, PTPN X also exporting a local product of cigar and cigarillos.  Export destination among other is Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and French.

Some cigar also exported to Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.  The last news said that PTPN X has exported 10 million sticks of cigarillos to China.