Tobacco sales suffer 24.7 percent knock

Harare, (New Ziana) – Tobacco sales suffered a 24.7 percent knock in volumes in a sign of the impact of the El-Nino-induced drought that the country is facing, but the price appreciated by 25 percent at the same time, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Dr Jenfan Muswere has said. The golden leaf is one of the country’s major foreign currency earners, raking in more than US$360 million during the first month of the opening of the marketing season this year. In a brief to the media on Tuesday, Dr Muswere said a report given to the Cabinet showed that a total of 203.3 million kg of tobacco had been sold as of June 20 at an average price of US$3.46/kg this season.

The sales volume represents a 24.7 percent decrease compared to the same period last year when 270 million kilograms were sold at an average price of US$3.01/kg. The tobacco price at the auction floors increased by 25 percent from US$2.89/kg in 2023 to US$3.61/kg this year. “At contract floors, the price also increased by 15 percent, from US$3.00/kg in 2023 to US$3.45/kg in 2024, with 38 percent of the tobacco marketed in 2024 having been traded through decentralized sales floors. It is also worth noting that about 86 million kilograms of tobacco have been exported at an average price of US$5.57/kg, compared to 69 million kilograms exported during the same period in 2023 at an average price of US$5.37/kg,” Dr Muswere said.

The bulk of the golden leaf (59 percent) was exported to the Far East, largely China. Meanwhile Muswere said cotton buyers were ordered to liquidate farmers’ arrears ahead of the new marketing season which started on June 6 and is expected to run up to July 6, with 7.9 million kilograms of the crop having been marketed by June 24. The eight registered contractors include Alliance Ginneries; Agri-Value Chain, Cottco, Innovation Cotton, New Cotton Company, ShawashAgri, Southern Cotton Company, and the Zimbabwe Cotton Consortium.

They will only be allowed to buy seed cotton once they have finished paying farmers for deliveries made in the last season, and when all grade differential payments have been settled. Muswere said there are 647 Common Buying Points across the country, and the minimum seed cotton prices are US$0.43/kg for grade A, US$0.39/kg for grade B, US$0.36/kg for grade C and US$0.32/kg for grade D, with payments being split as 75 percent in USD and 25 percent ZWG. Turning to the Winter Season Production Plan, Dr Muswere said 6 449ha of barley have been planted against a target of 7 000ha with a projected harvest of 42 000 metric tonnes.

He said by the wheat planting deadline of June 14, at least 121 982ha had been planted, surpassing the target of 120 000ha by 2 percent, the highest planting in the country in history.

“Cabinet highlights that 16 wheat production enablers which include power, water, seed, fertilizer, fuel, farmer outstanding payments, finance, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, migratory pests, mechanization, chemicals, insurance, land issues, infrastructure, security/theft, and policy and the regulatory environment are being tracked on a weekly basis, in order to ensure that productivity is maximized. To that end, wheat farmers clusters have been submitted to ZESA and ZINWA for ring-fencing of electricity and water in the major wheat growing districts,” he said.

New Ziana