Zimbabwe: Tobacco Deliveries Down

Source from:  The Herald 05/14/2010

Harare - THE shortage of packaging materials has resulted in reduced deliveries of tobacco to the auction floors. Hessian bags, which are used for wrapping the crop for sale, have been in short supply over the past few weeks. Zimbabwe Industry Tobacco Auction Centre public relations officer Ms Kudzayi Hamadziripi said daily deliveries, which had increased to 6 500 bales, had dropped to between 4 000 and 4 500. "The suppliers of the packaging material have promised to avail the material this week but nothing has happened. "We are hoping that supply will resume soon so that farmers are not disadvantaged," she said. Meanwhile, there is a possibility of farmers opting for less contract cropping in future. Enditem