Malawi leads in tobacco, tea exports
Malawi led in exports for tobacco and one of the world’s most loved beverages, tea, among the 19-member Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), available figures indicate.
Figures provided by Comesa indicate that in 2012, Malawi exported about $638 million worth of tobacco which is about 31.6 percent of the region’s total exports of the leaf.
Malawi’s feat among the Comesa members came second to Zimbabwe’s $824 million tobacco exports which are about 40.8 percent of the region’s exports in the trade line.
The figures also indicate that Malawi exported $76 million worth of tea after Kenya’s exports of the beverage which were valued at $1.2 billion.
But regardless of the stellar performance in the exports of the leaf, tobacco has been hit by the anti-smoking lobby with the government seriously considering ratifying the convention.
Apart from the anti-smoking lobby, Malawi’s has this year experienced lower prices with the lacklustre performance impacting on the total revenue raked in by the country with authorities doubting that it would reach last year’s $361.84 million.
By volume, the third round tobacco estimates production are at 182 million kilogrammes about six percent below the second round estimates largely due to weather related factors—the excessive rains which occurred in February and March this year which had a negative impact on production, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Development.
However, according to the Tobacco Control Commission (TCC), between January and June 2014, exports for Malawi tobacco which wires in about 60 percent of forex earnings, jumped by about 36 percent to $137.7 million compared to $87 million exported in the same period last year.
Tea, another prominent forex earner for Malawi is also experiencing plummeting prices.
According to Tea Association of Malawi Limited (Taml) chief executive officer Clement Thindwa earlier this year noted that the tea sector faces a number of problems including stagnant world market prices.
Thindwa noted that the sector is a price taker unlike some sectors in Malawi and have been experiencing stagnant prices for some time consequently leading to shrinking margins.
Additionally, Malawi’s traditional markets for the beverage, the United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa, have been declining, according to Taml.
Apart from tea and tobacco, according to Comesa, Malawi was also noted as the main exporters of vegetables and fruits from the region along with Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Madagascar.
Malawi’s major intra-Comesa imports were petroleum gases and oils from Zambia which amounted to almost $300 million in 2012, according to Comesa.
