Zimbabwe's Tobacco Auction Likely to Close Early this Year: Official

Source from:  Xinhuanet www.chinaview.cn  06/22/2004

Zimbabwean Industry Tobacco AuctionCenter General Manager Kennedy Chiramba said here on Monday that tobacco auction was likely to close early this year as a result ofreduced tobacco output. The marketing season was likely to end by mid August since halfof the projected crop had already gone under the hammer. "This season is likely to be shorter than normal. We should be done by mid August," said Chiramba. A total of 60 million km of tobacco is projected to pass through auction floors this year, down from 80 million kg last year. The selling season normally opens around April and ends in October of every year. But a decline in tobacco production is likely to result in an early end to the marketing season, as 31 million km of tobacco have so far been sold. Earnings in US dollar terms have also remained lower compared with those of last year. However, tobacco auctioneers have expressed satisfaction with the quality of this year's crop. "The quality is very good and even the buyers are not complaining," said Chiramba. Tobacco is the country's main export, but is slowly being overtaken by cotton and platinum. Enditem