Zimbabwe has already sold 201,052,892 kg of tobacco leaf, which costs up to USD 614,274,983 since the marketing season opened in March despite the crop being grown under challenging conditions. The following statistics have been released by the Tobacco Industry & Marketing Board (TIMB) on Friday.
Despite being close to matching last year’s output, the value of crop so far this year has already crossed last year’s figure, showing firmer prices which were obtained in the market because of good quality leaf.
Zimbabwe has sold over 207,176,784 kg of the golden leaf which values at USD 578,782,797 in the same period last year.
During the time when the selling season officially closed on July 20, 2022, growers had sold 187 million kg of tobacco leaf, which values at 569 million USD.
This year’s volume is likely to further spike or surpass last year’s output as contract sales are still ongoing until any further notice.
Despite the slight fall in output so far as compared to the last year, tobacco leaf fetched much higher prices this year, with the 614.2 million USD earnings, which shows a 6.13 per cent increase from last year’s value of 579 million USD.
Despite being grown under harsh conditions which are characterized by irregular rainfall, this year’s crop fetched higher prices, with the seasonal price averaging above 3 USD per kg as compared to 2.79 USD per kg last year.
The bulk of Zimbabwe’s tobacco leaf is sold through contract floors, with 95 per cent of the crop grown under the contract system while only 5 per cent of farmers self-finance their crop production, which they then sell through auction floors.
Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s second foreign currency earner after gold, with China and South Africa being the major buyers of the golden leaf.
