Malawi Tobacco Sales to Resume 30 March

Source from:  BBC Monitoring Newsfile 03/30/2006

Tobacco sales at the Lilongwe Auction Floors, which were suspended on Tuesday because buyers were not offering the government fixed minimum prices, will resume tomorrow, the state-run Malawi Broadcasting Corporation reported. "We have resolved to resume sales tomorrow, Thursday," the radio quoted the general manager of the Tobacco Control Commission, Godfrey Chapola, as saying. Chapola, however, was non-committal on whether the buyers have agreed to buy the leaf at the fixed minimum prices. "We have said we will resume the sales tomorrow but it's up to the buyers to offer the set prices," he said. President Bingu wa Mutharika, during the inauguration of the tobacco marketing season on Monday, announced that, from this year, government will be fixing prices at which "crops of national importance" including tobacco, tea and cotton will be sold. He said for tobacco the minimum price for low quality tobacco will be 1.10 dollars and 1.70 dollars for high quality tobacco. Buyers, however, rejected the prices leading to the suspension of sales. Enditem