Little profit in growing

Zimbabwe is forfeiting at least US$27 on every kg of unmanufactured tobacco that it exports, according to a story in The New Zimbabwe quoting the Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube.
Speaking at an investment conference in Switzerland last week, Ncube said that Zimbabwe was one of the biggest producers of leaf tobacco and that the bulk of what it produced was exported in unmanufactured form.
Zimbabwe’s more-than 100,000 growers had produced a record flue-cured crop this year of 252.5 million kg.
But the average price had gone down.
And the average price of about US$3 per kg for unprocessed grower tobacco and US$6 per kg for processed tobacco, compared with between US$30 and US$60 for tobacco cigarettes, Ncube said.
Therefore, by exporting unprocessed tobacco Zimbabwe was forfeiting at least US$27 per kg that could be accruing to the country.
The story said that Zimbabwe was looking for foreign direct investment to boost its economy so that it could become a middle-income country by 2030.