Growers’ earnings down by 24 percent in Zimbabwe

By day 33 of Zimbabwe’s flue-cured sales, volume sales were down by seven percent from those of the same period of the 2014 season and earnings from those sales were down by 24 percent, according to a story in The Herald.

This season, tobacco growers earned US$129 million after selling 50 million kg of flue-cured, while last season they earned US$170 million from the sale of 54 million kg, the Herald reported, citing Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board figures.

Prices this season have been depressed since the opening day of the 2015 sales season when the average price was US$2.80 per kg, down from US$3.15 per kg the previous season.

The decline in prices has been attributed to the poor quality of the lower leaves as a result of unhelpful weather, but a more likely explanation is probably to be found in the supply/demand situation.