President Lazarus Chakwera is this morning opening the tobacco marketing season at the Lilongwe Auction floors with high expectation of better prices from tobacco growers.
Tama Farmers Trust chief executive officer Nixon Lita believes buyers
will present better prices because production this year is lower than projected buyer demand.
The first-round of crop estimates shows that the country is this year expected to produce 122 million kilogrammes (kg) of tobacco against buyers’ demand of 132 million kg.
Just like last year, this year’s marketing season opens amid Covid-19 pandemic which may pose marketing challenges amid strict measures.
Last year, earnings from tobacco sales plunged by 27 percent to $174 million (about K134 billion) against $237 million (about K182 billion) earned in 2019.
Despite the drop in the revenue last year, the market saw a marginal increase in the average price to $1.54 (about K1 185) per kg compared to $1.43 (about K1 101) per kg in the 2019 marketing season.
