Recent figures from the country’s Tobacco market regulator, Auction Holdings Limited (AHL) indicates that revenues from the crop could be relatively low by the end of this year’s season.
The figures indicates that by the end of week seventeen, which is about two weeks to the closure of the season, the country has realized 168 million dollars which is about K126 billion.
From the same period last year, the country had realized 204.3 million dollars which is about K153.2 billion. This represents a difference of about 36.3 million dollars which is about K27.2 billion.
The figure projection corresponds to the remarks made recently by TC executive director, Kaisi Sadala that the commission is expecting a drop in this year’s Tobacco final output.
On a current note, Sadala has expressed shock that the drop in volumes is happening earlier than usual even though Tobacco inflow contraction is normal.
He said, : “Tobacco volumes in the fields are coming to an end but this year it is happening earlier and it goes back to what we said earlier that it seems like this year, the Tobacco volumes are much lower than we thought”.
He added that the early drop could be as a result of an overestimation of Tobacco output in the country and across the region.
By the end of seventeenth week, about 109.7 million kilograms of all types of Tobacco had been traded whereas the same period last year, 138.6 million kilograms had been traded.
The country planned to produce 155 million kilograms of Tobacco against a trade requirement of 161 million kilograms.
Tobacco is the country’s leading forex exchange earner but it has been falling gradually over the past Ten years.
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