The ManicaPost
Farming Reporter
FLUE-cured tobacco farmers in Manicaland are racing against time to beat the deadline to sell the remnant gold leaf as all the country’s auction floors are expected to close shop today.
Auction floors normally close in July, but the 2014 flue-cured tobacco selling season closes a month earlier than previous years, a development that has been criticised by farmers as a deliberate tactic to coerce them to sell their crop at exploitative prices as they cannot sell it anywhere else once the auction floors close shop.
Deliveries this season are expected to surpass 200 million kilogrammes.
At least 196 000 kilograms of flue-cured tobacco have been sold so far with farmers earning $610m, 32,5 percent up from the same period last year.
Contract purchases stand at 147 000kg, fetching an average price of $3,33 per kg.
Tobacco Sales Floors (TSF), Boka Tobacco Floors (BTF) and Premier Tobacco Floors have cumulative purchases of 48 000kg at a standard price of $2,74 per kg.
The average price for the 2014 season is at $3,18 per kg and is lower than last year’s $3,70.
This marks a record negative variance of 13,9 percent.
About 2,6 million tobacco bales were laid so far, 2,5 million bales were sold while 128 440 were rejected mostly due to overweight and mixed hands.
However, the bale rejection rate stands at 5,7 percent, down from year’s 7 percent.
Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board chief executive officer Dr Andrew Matibiri said farmers must hurry up to beat the deadline.
“The flue-cured tobacco marketing season will close on Friday June 27 with final deliveries accepted on Thursday 26 June. All growers who sell on auction floors are therefore advised to complete their grading and baling operations by Wednesday 25 June at the very latest. Most farmers have delivered their crop for sale and we are confident that the tobacco deliveries will surpass 200 million kg,” said Matibiri.
A flue-cured auction tobacco mop-up sale for the 2014 marketing season will be held on July 15.
Statistics from the TIMB show that 194 million kg of flue cured tobacco worth $619 million have been sold since the opening of selling season in February.
This is an increase of 32 percent from the 147 million kg of tobacco worth $543 million sold same period last year.
Last season 166 million kg of tobacco were sold.
Last week the closure of the Rusape auction floor drew an angry reaction from contract farmers who will have to foot extra transport costs to sell their crop at its main floors in Harare.
A week prior to the closure, farmers have been complaining about MTC’s poor capacity to handle huge deliveries due to storage and manpower shortages.
Many farmers were meant to endure torrid times in queues.
An estimated 14 000 farmers, accounting for around 32 000 hectares of tobacco in Manicaland, were earmarked to deliver their crop, expected to be in the region of 20 million kilogrammes at the Rusape auction floors.
Last year the MTC floors transacted 13 million kilograms and had set the 2014 target at 20 million kilograms.
It is understood that MTC jumped the gun after hitting its target, largely attributed to side marketing.
Most non-contract farmers were selling their crop at the auction floor either through a conduit of contracted farmers or with the connivance of unscrupulous auction floor officials.
TIMB also came under fire for failing to protect farmers against unfair practices by tobacco buyers through its connivance in setting unviable price benchmarks.
Farmers also queried why TIMB was allowing tobacco buyers to come up with different prices for classified gold leaf.
Farmers were disgusted by TIMB controversial ruling that once tobacco entered the auction floors, a farmer cannot take them away even if they are not happy with the price.
