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ZIMBABWE has so far earned US$458.5 million from 183.3 million kilograms sold since the selling season opened on April 29 this year, statistics from the industry regulator show.

The 2020 marketing season, which usually starts in March, was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and is being conducted under strict conditions.

In a trading update on day 108, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board said the sales were 11.36 percent lower than last year’s, which stood at US$517.2 million.

The average price at auction and contract floors was US$2.50 per kg, higher than US$2.03 in the same period last year. The crop has, so far, fetched a highest price of US$6.60 per kg while the lowest has been 0.10 cents per kg.

Rejected bales declined by 60.30 percent from 204 203 in 2019 to 81 076 this year. In the past few years, tobacco production has been on the increase, with farmers selling a record 259 million kg last year, up from 253 million kg in 2018.

Tobacco is the country’s second largest foreign currency earner after gold. This year, tobacco was grown under difficult weather conditions characterised by delayed rains and prolonged drought.

– New Ziana