Story by Owen Mandovha
THIS year’s tobacco marketing season is expected to exceed targets set by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) despite the impact of the El-Nino induced drought.
TIMB set a delivery target of 230 million kilogrammes this year taking into consideration the impact of the El-Nino induced drought experienced during the summer cropping season.
The tobacco regulatory authority has not yet announced the closing date for auction and contract floors but on day 84 of the marketing season, 221 million kilogrammes had been delivered, just eight million shy of the target.
TIMB Board chairperson, Mr Patrick Devenish confirmed the season performed beyond expectations given this year’s tough conditions.
“Obviously we expected the season to be affected by low rains, but we are realising that our target can be exceeded as more deliveries continue to the contract and auction floors. We haven’t set the date of closure of the season yet but that decision will be made in the coming weeks,” he said.
Despite the dip in production, the silver lining is the average tobacco prices at US$3.44 per kilogramme, compared to just above US$3.04 per kilogramme fetched last year.
Meanwhile, a high-tech tobacco processing plant which is being constructed by Cut Rag Processors is expected to harness value addition, thereby increasing foreign currency earnings in the future.
“The new plant adds to the already existing capacity to value add our tobacco and this means that we are able to export value added tobacco which will fetch more and this will definitely benefit our farmers,” noted Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association president, George Seremwe.
At day 84 of the marketing season, the tobacco industry had earned a total of US$760 million United States dollars, compared to US$864 million earned last year.
