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Natasha Chamba, Business Reporter
THE Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has licensed 32 buyers and contracted 30 companies ahead of the opening of the 2019 tobacco selling season on Wednesday.
In a telephone interview TIMB chief executive officer, Dr Andrew Matibiri, said the tobacco marketing season for this year would likely commence with a stagnant number of licensed buyers and a slight increase of contracting companies.
“The marketing season for this year will commence on March 20 and we have 32 licensed tobacco buyers. We were expecting more since it is the same number we had last year but our contracting companies have slightly increased from 25 last year to 30 this year,” he said.
The country has been facing persistent foreign currency shortage thereby crippling businesses and consequently the economy. The golden leaf is one of the country’s top foreign currency earners as well as gold. The country’s foreign currency situation normally improves during the tobacco marketing season.
Dr Matibiri projected the coming selling season would yield a reasonable amount of foreign currency although output prospects for the year will be slightly low due to low rains.
“We have a reasonable amount of buyers and this will pump in a reasonable amount of foreign currency though at hand I do not have the output prospects of this year since they are still being prepared, but they are likely to be low because of the poor rains,” he said.
Dr Matibiri said the RBZ has approved farmers’ request to be paid 50 percent of their income from tobacco sales into their nostro accounts and the other half into their RTGS$ accounts.
Meanwhile, the country has since the beginning of the year exported 35 million kilogrammes of flue-cured tobacco worth $162,5 million around the world at an average price of $4,64 a kg.
During the comparable period last year, 20 million kg of the golden leaf had been exported at an average price of $4,64 a kg raking in $92,2 million.
Zimbabwe exports flue-cured tobacco to over 60 countries with China leading as the major consumer of the golden leaf. In 2018, China spent $449, 7 million importing 59, 1 million kgs of the golden leaf at an average price of $7, 61 a kg.
Zimbabwe last year earned $892 million from 184, 1 million kilogrammes exported to different parts of the world while in 2017, the country earned $904 million from 182, 4 million kg at an average price of $4, 96 a kg.—@queentauruszw
Online Reporter