Zimbabwe prices down

Flue-cured-tobacco grower-prices are down from where they were last year on Zimbabwe’s contract and auction markets, according to a story in The Herald relayed by the TMA.

The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board said recently that 144 million kg of flue-cured tobacco had been sold so far this selling season for US$416 million.

This compares with the 127 million kg that had been sold for US$370 million during the equivalent period of last year.

So the average price was down from US$2.91 per kg in 2016 to US$2.89 per kg this year.

According to the TIMB, the contract floors had accounted for 117 million kg of flue-cured tobacco having been sold for US$338 million, or US$2.89 per kg, so far this season.

The auction floors, meanwhile, had reportedly accounted for the sale of 27 million kg for US$78 million, also at an average of $2.89.

Meanwhile, an opinion piece in the Zimbabwe Herald that welcomed the success of the country’s farmers in producing what was expected to be another flue-cured crop in excess of 200 million kg, also sounded a warning.

‘But as the country celebrates this remarkable achievement by our tobacco farmers, there is a greater need to strike a sustainable balance between the country’s economic interests and those of the environment,’ the piece said.

‘A majority of the farmers who have taken up tobacco growing as a business rely on firewood to cure the crop, but at a huge cost to the environment. They don’t have woodlots for this purpose. They are decimating indigenous trees at a time when the world is concerned about the environment and climate change, and its impact on our future.

‘This is clearly not sustainable as it is very difficult to replace the precious indigenous trees which face the prospect of being wiped out if deliberate efforts are not taken to control their use.’