Malawi tobacco sales expected to close two months earlier

This year's tobacco sales of Malawi are expected to close two months earlier because of low production after most growers abandoned the crop en masse due to poor prices in the previous years.

Reports indicate that about 40,000 farmers abandoned the crop last growing season, a factor that has greatly contributed to low production this year.

Most farmers cited poor prices of tobacco at the previous auction floors as one major reason for dumping the crop, according to the website of The Nation newspaper of the country.

Normally, tobacco sales in the country wrap up in October or early November when tobacco production is high but this year the auction might close as early as July.

The Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) said on Tuesday this year's tobacco sales--which have been characterized with good prices since the opening of the floors on March 26--will close at the end of July.

TCC said it expects that by the end of July this year tobacco auctioning at all the three tobacco auction floors in the country will be wrapping up for business as the tobacco supply at the markets will have dried up.

Tobacco contributes about 60 percent of the country's total foreign exchange earnings. This year the leaf fetched better prices compared to the previous two years when sales were characterized by protests from growers.