Low key start to tobacco sales in Mzuzu
Mzuzu Floors opened its doors for the 2018 Tobacco Marketing Season yesterday on a low note with prices ranging from K587.20 (80 cents) to K1 394.60 ($1.90) per kilogramme (kg).
The prices left growers selling their leaf under the auction system discontented.
On the other hand, growers under contract or the Integrated Production System (IPS) were all smiles as the least price offered was 80 cents per kg while the highest price was about K1 761.60 ($2.40) per kg.
One of the dissatisfied farmers Komesha Jere from Mpherembe in Mzimba District said most leaf being bought at about K1 247.80 ($1.70) per kg was top quality that should have fetched at least K1 541.40 ($2.10).
He said: “Growers are making a huge mistake of offering top quality now when buyers are looking for bottom leaf which is of lower quality; hence, their top leaf is fetching low prices.”
Besco Munthali, a grower from Vongo also in Mzimba District, lamented the high number of bales on re-offer.
Tobacco Association of Malawi (Tama) president Abel Kalima-Banda agreed with the farmers that the opening day prices were far from impressive.
He said Mzuzu is so far getting the lowest prices of all the floors.
Said Kalima: “The buyers are restricting themselves to the minimum prices. They have just added a little something on top. I am not happy.”
But Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Joseph Mwanamvekha, who officially opened the market, expressed satisfaction with the prices, saying buyers are paying according to quality.
The minister said as the market progresses, prices will improve because demand is higher than what growers have produced.
During the third week of sales, the country has more than doubled last year’s sales during the same period.
The green gold has fetched about K22.7 billion ($31 million) this year compared to about K10.2 billion ($14 million) during the same period last year, translating to about 117 percent.
In terms of volumes, 21 million kg has been sold in the first three weeks compared to eight million kg over the same period last year.
