Zimbabwe: Regulator shows $267.9mln earned from tobacco sales since season started

According to figures from the industry regulator, Zimbabwe has bagged in a gigantic amount of USD 267.9 million from the sale of minimum 146 million kilograms of tobacco since the 2019 marketing season began seven weeks ago.

In a trading update on Tuesday, June 4, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board said the sales had dwindled by 14.7 percent from the same period in 2018 while proceeds also dropped by 46 percent.

The update said that tobacco output, one of the country's major foreign currency earners, is expected to decline by as much as 15 percent owing to poor weather conditions under which the crop was grown. Last year, the country produced an all-time high of 252 million kg of tobacco, as reported by Xinhua.

Zimbabwe this year experienced drought conditions that were characterized by late rains and prolonged dry spells. This year, the number of registered growers has increased by 27 percent to 183, 154, with more than 44,000 being first-time growers.

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