Tobacco marketing season extended
Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) has extended this year’s tobacco marketing season for Lilongwe Auction Floors and there is a possibility of the same for Mzuzu floors.
Speaking in an interview chief executive officer for TCC Bruce Munthali attributed the extension to an oversupply of flue cured tobacco on the market.
“We have sold 29 million kilogrammes (kg) beyond the estimated 23 million kg for flue cured tobacco,” Munthali said.
He said the Lilongwe floor which was scheduled to close on August 29 still has 13 000 bales of the leaf.
Munthali however said the floors are expected to close within this month.
Munthali said the over production has negatively affected pricing and led to high rejection rate of the leaf currently at 40-50 percent.
In a snap survey at Mzuzu floors, flue cured tobacco growers showed discontentment on the pricing and lamented the high rejection rate.
Lyson Fungwe a grower from Traditional Authority (T/A) Mpherembe in Mzimba district said out of his 14 bales, three were bought at a lower price of 55 cents a kg while 11 bales were rejected.
The visibly frustrated grower said he does not understand why leaf sold on contract marketing method fetches higher prices than on the traditional auction method.
“The rejection rate for those on contract is low as well than we selling our leaf on auction; this is demotivating; do they want all growers to be on contract?” queried Fungwe who has been growing tobacco from mid 1990s.
While Gift Mkandawire Chiwaka another grower from Bwengu in the district claimed his 13 bales attracted a reasonable price of $2.40 per kg because he was servicing a loan with one of the buyers.
He said some of his 14 bales have been rejected because they were soggy, problem he attributed to the transporter.
According to Munthali the country has produced 188 873 million kg of tobacco attracting $356 525 million this year as compared to 165 million kg fetching $355 million at the same time in 2013.
Munthali said the 23 million kg difference is due to overproduction of flue cured tobacco.
