Online Reporter
Precious Manomano
Herald Reporter
TOBACCO farmers continue to benefit from the fruits of their labour and have so far pocketed US$418 070 534 million from the sale of 122 889 747 kg under the auction and contract system.
This compares favourably to the US$434 589 821 they received from the sale of 121 990 975 kg during the same period last year.
This year’ s target is 280 million kg which is far higher than 235 million kg obtained last season.
Last year’s crop was hampered by the El Niño-induced drought.
Statistics from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) indicate that 6 493 516 kg have so far been delivered to the auction floors and 116 396 231 kg to the contract floors.
The average price is US$3,40 per kg, which is lower than the US$3,56 per kg during the same period last year.
The highest price under the contract system so far has been US$6,30 per kg, which compares favourably with US$6,99 per kg for the comparative period last year, while the average price under the auction system remains US$4,99.
At least 46 484 bales have been rejected so far, compared to 39 863 last season.
