Tobacco earnings up 45 %

With a week left for the closure of tobacco auction floors, Zimbabwe has recorded a 45% rise in tobacco earnings this selling season to over US$890 million.

“The 2022/ 2023 tobacco selling season has been progressing very well as of day 90 TIMB had recorded a total of 290 million kgs of tobacco valued at US$880 million, this is the highest ever volumes of tobacco ever recorded in Zimbabwe,” Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board Spokesperson, Mrs Chelesani Moyo Tsarwe said.

While volumes have gone up, prices have come down slightly in comparison to the 2022 season when 198 million kgs of tobacco sold in the same period earned US$605 million.

Tobacco is one of Zimbabwe’s top five forex earners. Chinese buyers now make up the biggest buyer bloc for Zimbabwean tobacco and exports to the Asian country for this season will be above 70 million kg of tobacco worth US$390 million.

Chinese companies are also significant tobacco production financiers in Zimbabwe through contract farming.