TIMB orders idle merchants to buy tobacco or lose licences

ByEnigma 808

A two-week ultimatum just hit 37 idle tobacco merchants who have been sitting on licences while farmers rage over rock-bottom prices.

Tobacco merchants face licence threats

  • Only 7 of 44 registered merchants bothered to buy this season.
  • TIMB CEO Emmanuel Matsvaire issued a 14-day compliance deadline.
  • Inactive buyers must justify their absence to the board.
  • Licence hoarding could trigger revocations.

Farmers revolting over prices

  • Growers yanked their crop off auction floors in protest.
  • Some prices dipped as low as US$0.45 per kilogram.
  • Weak buyer turnout crushed any real price competition.
  • The average opening price fell to US$2.85 from US$3.35 last year.

Season-opening numbers are grim

  • First-day volume dropped roughly 50% year over year.
  • Revenue tanked about 57% compared to last season’s opening.
  • Just 626,742 kilogrammes moved in the first 24 hours.
  • Last year’s equivalent haul topped 1.2 million kilogrammes.

TIMB’s outlook and expectations

  • Projected total sales sit at 400 million kilogrammes this season.
  • That target exceeds last year’s 335 million kilogrammes.
  • More active buyers should theoretically stabilize the market.
  • National sales targets may get revised based on merchant responses.

Author

  • Enigma XO avatar (80x80)

    Besides writing and being a content creator, Enigma 808 sometimes likes to watch paint dry on walls, listening to ASMR while timing snails racing. Such is life.