Record shattered

Tobacco deliveries in Zimbabwe are set to surpass last season’s record-breaking delivery of 252 million kgs as deliveries continue at the auction and contract floors, reports The Herald. A record 252 million kgs was delivered to the market during the 2018 marketing season.

“By day 102, farmers had delivered 251.3 million kgs of tobacco worth $507 million,” said Isheunesu Moyo, Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board communications manager. “This is an increase from the 249.6 million kgs worth $730 million that was delivered by growers during the same period last year.”

In general, the prices this year are lower by about 31 percent to those of last year at $2.92 per kg compared to $2.02 per kg.

The 2018/2019 season has been described by many farmers as a difficult one due to the late rains that affected production and quality of the crop in some areas. Farmers also complained of depressed prices this season compared to the previous prices.