The 2024 tobacco selling season will close early next month as earnings in the first 13 weeks of sales hit $367.1 million, market regulator Tobacco Commission (TC) has said.
Communication from TC shows that Chinkhoma Auction Floors closed last Friday while Lilongwe and Limbe markets will close this week.
Mzuzu Auction Floors are expected to close on August 2, according to the statement from TC.
The resolution was arrived at by a tobacco sales committee meeting comprising various industry players.
TC Public Relations Officer Telephorus Chigwenembe said the selling season, which opened on April 15 2024, will close after 16 weeks of trading.
“The commission has since rated the 2024 selling season as one of the best in recent years in view of unprecedented prices and smooth trading of the crop,” he said.
Meanwhile, at the end of last week, about 123.4 million kilogrammes (kg) were sold at an average price of $2.95 per kg.
During the 2023 tobacco marketing season, Malawi earned $282.62 million after selling 120 million kg of the leaf at an average price of $2.35.
This year’s progress represents a 29.9 percent jump in earnings and a 25.5 percent rise in the average price.
In a recent interview, Tobacco Association of Malawi Trust Chief Executive Officer Nixon Lita said there had been good progress on the market.
“Prices and general conduct of the market is exciting farmers to an extent that we expect more farmers to apply for licences for production in the 2024-25 season.
“As Tama, we are appealing to farmers not to relax in terms of maintaining standards on leaf presentation. Cheating by mixing grades and or non-tobacco material is punishable,” Lita said.
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