Business / Economy
149 888 tobacco bales have gone under the hammer
15 Mar 2011 at 06:53hrs | Views
Tobacco worth US$37 million has been sold at the Tobacco Sales Floor and on the contract market since the opening of the selling season 18 days ago.
This is an increase from the US$30 million that was raised from the crop over the same period last season.
The 12,2 million kilogrammes were sold at an average price of US$3,03. Contractors are buying the golden leaf at an average price of US$3,23 per kg and have bought 7,6 million kg.
About 4,5 million kg have been sold at TSF. To date, 149 888 bales have gone under the hammer. A total of 13 109 bales have been rejected for reasons such as being mouldy, mixed hands, over size and under size. Some tobacco growers are complaining about alleged irregularities in the marketing.
They said scales being used at the auction floors are giving false readings. Rusape farmer, Mrs Benny Mutandiwa, said it was strange that scales being used by farmers were different from those at the auction floors.
"Why is that we are given readings which are less than those we get when we weigh our crop at the farm?
"Is it always the case that a farmer cannot read the scale properly?
"If it is true that farmers cannot have accurate readings why is it that we have not registered any bale that has a higher mass than what the farmer would have gotten at the farm?"
The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board insists that scales being used at auction floors are not tampered with and are regularly inspected for accuracy. Between 170 and 200 million kg of tobacco are expected to be auctioned this year compared to 120 million kg last season.
This is an increase from the US$30 million that was raised from the crop over the same period last season.
The 12,2 million kilogrammes were sold at an average price of US$3,03. Contractors are buying the golden leaf at an average price of US$3,23 per kg and have bought 7,6 million kg.
About 4,5 million kg have been sold at TSF. To date, 149 888 bales have gone under the hammer. A total of 13 109 bales have been rejected for reasons such as being mouldy, mixed hands, over size and under size. Some tobacco growers are complaining about alleged irregularities in the marketing.
They said scales being used at the auction floors are giving false readings. Rusape farmer, Mrs Benny Mutandiwa, said it was strange that scales being used by farmers were different from those at the auction floors.
"Why is that we are given readings which are less than those we get when we weigh our crop at the farm?
"Is it always the case that a farmer cannot read the scale properly?
"If it is true that farmers cannot have accurate readings why is it that we have not registered any bale that has a higher mass than what the farmer would have gotten at the farm?"
The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board insists that scales being used at auction floors are not tampered with and are regularly inspected for accuracy. Between 170 and 200 million kg of tobacco are expected to be auctioned this year compared to 120 million kg last season.
Source - Byo24News
