Buyers check on tobacco at the Limbe Auction Floors in Blantyre, Malawi, on April 17, 2023. (Photo by Joseph Mizere/Xinhua)
As the 2023 selling season for tobacco gets underway in Malawi, farmers are expressing optimism as opening prices look promising so far.
BLANTYRE, Malawi, April 20 (Xinhua) -- As the 2023 selling season for tobacco gets underway in Malawi, farmers are expressing optimism as opening prices look promising so far.
The tobacco market opened on April 12. According to Auction Holdings Limited (AHL), the crop initially sold at an average price of 1.8 U.S. dollars per kilo; a few days later, the average price rose to 1.88 dollars, a positive trend for the season.
Buyers check on tobacco at the Limbe Auction Floors in Blantyre, Malawi, on April 17, 2023. (Photo by Joseph Mizere/Xinhua)
Farmers at the Limbe Auction Floors in Blantyre, the country's commercial hub, have expressed optimism that they will make a kill if the trend sustains.
"I'm very excited with the prices, and going like this, I'm optimistic that I'll make more gains than I've ever anticipated," Ben Sakwi told Xinhua on Tuesday.
Tobacco Association of Malawi Trust President Abel Masache Kalima Banda hoped that the prices of the leaf will go up to 2.3 to 3 dollars a kilo.
Buyers check on tobacco at the Limbe Auction Floors in Blantyre, Malawi, on April 17, 2023. (Photo by Joseph Mizere/Xinhua)
Banda told Xinhua that the good prices will, in a way, compensate for the "significantly increased cost of production during the recent tobacco-growing season due to high inflation levels in the country."
Tobacco is Malawi's strategic crop and highest foreign exchange earner, accounting for more than half of the country's exports.
According to the Malawi Tobacco Commission, 126 million kilos of tobacco are expected to be sold this season, up from 85 million kilos produced last season, representing a 48 percent increase.
Demand for the leaf is at 170 million kilos in the country, according to the AHL. ■
