Universal Leaf Tobacco Company, Inc. is the world’s leading global tobacco merchant and processor. In Mozambique, the company operates as Mozambique Leaf Tobacco Co. Lda (MLTC). Established in 1996, it is a massive agro-industrial operation that contracts over 120,000 small-scale Mozambican farmers across provinces like Tete, Manica, Zambézia, and Niassa to grow burley and flue-cured tobacco. MLTC processes this raw tobacco at its massive processing facility in Tete City before exporting it to major global consumer manufacturers.