Zimbabwe Earns US$358m From Tobacco Sales

Source from:  Star Africa Sounds 05/07/2014

Zimbabwe has so far sold more than 111 million kilogrammes of flue-cured tobacco worth US$358 million since the beginning of the 2014 marketing season in February, state-run news agency NewZiana reported Tuesday.Quoting latest statistics from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, the news agency said 111.6 million kg of tobacco have passed through the country's auction floors during the past two months.

The volume of the golden leaf sold so far is 23.6 percent above the 90.3 million kg of tobacco worth US$334.7 million sold during the comparable period last year, the TIMB data showed.

It noted that of the total, 78.1 million kg of tobacco was sold through contract sales while the remainder went under the hammer.

The seasonal average price of the tobacco this season was US$3.21 per kg, a drop of 13.4 percent from US$3.71 per kg of last year.

The government has forecast this year's output at 170 million kg after many farmers turned to tobacco and abandoned other cash crops which yield less attractive producer prices. Enditem