Business / Companies
Tobacco quality improves says TIMB
28 Apr 2014 at 07:49hrs | Views
THE Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has said the quality of tobacco being brought to the auction floors has improved as compared to the beginning of the season, saying this will lead to an improvement in prices.
In an interview with NewsDay, TIMB chief executive officer Andrew Matibiri said the quality has improved and more tobacco was being delivered by farmers.
"The quality has improved, we are now getting leaf grade from farmers and mainly when we see better quality we expect to see improvement in prices," Matibiri said.
He said the tobacco season was now at peak and more farmers are delivering the crop.
Latest statistics released by TIMB showed that as of Day 45 (Thursday), 96,1 million kg of flue-cured tobacco worth $316,8 million had been sold by farmers.
The total value is 7% below last year's figure and 21,04% above last year's output.
The price of tobacco as at Thursday averaged $3,30 per kg compared to $3,72 per kg during the same period last year.
The sales comprised 66,4 million kg contract and 96,1 million kg auction sales.
At least 14,7 million kg went under the hammer at Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF) on Thursday while Boka Tobacco Auction Floors (BTAF) and Premier Tobacco Auction Floor (PTAF) sold 7,3 million kg and 7,6 million kg respectively.
In the period under review, TSF bought tobacco at an average price of $2,98 per kg, BTAF at $2,72 per kg and PTAF at $2,79 per kg.
At least 1,4 million bales were accepted, while 61 582 bales had been rejected for various reasons.
More than 103 165 growers have registered compared to about 87 860 registered during the same period last year.
In an interview with NewsDay, TIMB chief executive officer Andrew Matibiri said the quality has improved and more tobacco was being delivered by farmers.
"The quality has improved, we are now getting leaf grade from farmers and mainly when we see better quality we expect to see improvement in prices," Matibiri said.
He said the tobacco season was now at peak and more farmers are delivering the crop.
Latest statistics released by TIMB showed that as of Day 45 (Thursday), 96,1 million kg of flue-cured tobacco worth $316,8 million had been sold by farmers.
The total value is 7% below last year's figure and 21,04% above last year's output.
The price of tobacco as at Thursday averaged $3,30 per kg compared to $3,72 per kg during the same period last year.
The sales comprised 66,4 million kg contract and 96,1 million kg auction sales.
At least 14,7 million kg went under the hammer at Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF) on Thursday while Boka Tobacco Auction Floors (BTAF) and Premier Tobacco Auction Floor (PTAF) sold 7,3 million kg and 7,6 million kg respectively.
In the period under review, TSF bought tobacco at an average price of $2,98 per kg, BTAF at $2,72 per kg and PTAF at $2,79 per kg.
At least 1,4 million bales were accepted, while 61 582 bales had been rejected for various reasons.
More than 103 165 growers have registered compared to about 87 860 registered during the same period last year.
Source - NewsDay
