Zimbabwe: Class B Buyers Back

Source from:  The Herald  05/16/2013

Tobacco farmers say Class B buyers have allegedly resurfaced at the tobacco auction floors, a move farmers say negatively affects the pricing of the crop.

The Class B buyers buy, re-handle and repackage tobacco that would have been rejected by Class A merchants and then re-sell it to the same at a higher price.

They were banned last season for allegedly pushing down tobacco prices.

Farmers, however, alleged that the Class B merchants were colluding with Class A merchants to reject the bulk of their tobacco so that they could buy it at low prices and re-sell it to Class A buyers at a higher price.

According to the tobacco growers the Class B buyers were this season not formally operating at the auction floors but were buying the crop from outside the floors.

The growers allege that auction floors were working together with the buyers and this had resulted in an increase in the number of bales being rejected at the floors.

Macheke farmer Mr Ben Hatitye said bales were being rejected for no apparent reason to force farmers to sell to the Class B buyers outside the floors to "at least get something out of the rejected crop".

"We are being forced to sell to these buyers by the situation. In some cases the transporters who would have ferried us to the floors will be ready to go and one cannot be left behind to sell a few bales considering the process I have to go through with the re-handling, baling and selling," he said. Enditem