Zimbabwe tobacco auctions to start on April

Source from:  24 Thu Apr 19, HARARE (AFP) news.yahoo.com 04/23/2007

Zimbabwe's annual tobacco auctions, which were postponed last month following a pricing dispute and shortages of wrapping materials, will now start next week, officials said Thursday. "The (auction) floors are expected to open on April 24 (Tuesday)," Zimbabwe Tobacco Association vice-president Andrew Ferreira told AFP. He said farmers and buyers were discussing minimum prices for their products and exchange rates with the agriculture ministry and the central bank and hoped to reach an agreement "before the floors open." Last month, farmers withheld deliveries in protest against the ruling exchange rate of one US dollar to 250 Zimbabwe dollars, which they rejected as uneconomic. The "golden leaf" farmers said demanded a special exchange rate to enable them to repay bank loans and buy inputs for the next farming season. Andrew Matibiri, chief executive officer for the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board said although all was set for the opening on Tuesday, the pricing issue remained a sticky point. "There are issues related to pricing that the responsible authorities are addressing, but we expect that between Friday and Monday something will be announced," Matibiri said. Tobacco production in Zimbabwe has declined from a record high of 236.13 million kilogrammes (236,130 metric tons) in 2000 to just 55.6 million kilogrammes last year. While this year's figure is expected to be around 70 million kilogrammes it is still a far cry from the former glory days. Critics blame the slump in production on President Robert Mugabe's controversial land reform programme launched in 2000 which saw the government seize at least 4,000 farms from their white farmers for redistribution to landless blacks. The majority of the new farmers often lack the skills and means to farm. Enditem