Tobacco Commission (TC) has announced that the 2026 Tobacco Marketing Season will close on September 10, marking 21 weeks since the market opened on April 20.
The market has been marred by farmers’ complaints over poor prices.
In a statement, the tobacco regulatory authority indicated that unlike in the previous years where markets were closing in phases, this year all the four markets, namely Limbe in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Chinkhoma in Kasungu will close on the same day.
“The closure follows an industry assessment of the flow of tobacco to the markets, which revealed most of this year’s crop has now been sold,” reads the statement.
In an interview yesterday, TC spokesperson Telephorus Chigwenembe said growers that still have unsold toba Reads part of the statement: cco should bring it to the market by Tuesday September 8 2026.
“All other industry players should also start winding up their tobacco marketing-related activities to ensure a smooth closure of the marketing season,” he said.
Tama Farmers Trust president Abiel Kalima Banda, in a separate interview yesterday, said most of the tobacco has already been sold, but decried low prices.
He said: “The positive aspect is that almost all tobacco has been bought this year unlike last year where farmers had a lot of leftovers.
“However, overall, this season was not good because prices have been extremely low.”
Meanwhile, AHL Tobacco Sales Limited sales report indicates that as at week 19, 142.3 million kilogrammes (kg) of tobacco was sold, raking in $282.4 million (about K494.4 billion) at an average price of $1.98 (about K3 466) per kg.
In the corresponding period last year, 205.3 million kg was sold, bringing in $517 million (about K905.2 billion) at an average price of $2.52 (about K4 412) per kg, indicating that revenue is 43 percent below last year.
This season, the number of tobacco buyers dropped to eight from 11 last season and are JTI Leaf (Malawi) Limited, Alliance One Malawi, Limbe Leaf Tobacco, Hail and Cotton (Malawi), Premium Tobacco, Associated Central African, African Tobacco Services and Nyasa Manufacturing.
Last season, tobacco, touted as the main foreign exchange earner, bringing in about 50 percent of foreign exchange earnings, generated a record $542 million (about K949 billion) at an average price of $2.46 (about K4 307) per kg.
Tobacco remains Malawi’s main foreign exchange earner, contributing 15 percent to the national economy, with the industry supporting millions of people along its value chain.
