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Universal is the world's leading leaf tobacco merchant and processor, based on volumes handled by its subsidiaries and affiliates. As a leaf tobacco merchant, Universal is an intermediary between the farmers and the final product manufacturer. It deals in tobacco grown in all parts of the globe and employs over 24,000 permanent and seasonal employees. Headquarters are in Richmond, Virginia, with facilities in other states as well as in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
The Company's tobacco sales consist primarily of flue-cured and burley tobaccos that, along with oriental tobaccos, are the major ingredients in American blend cigarettes. Universal participates in the sales of oriental tobacco through ownership of a minority equity interest in what management believes to be the largest oriental tobacco merchant in the world, Socotab, L.L.C. Universal also has a leading position in worldwide dark tobacco markets. Dark tobaccos are typically used for cigars, pipe tobacco, and smokeless tobacco products. Its dark tobacco operations are located in the major producing countries, such as the United States, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, and Brazil, and in other markets. |
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