Leaf News

A flue-cured tobacco grower in Florida (U.S.) uses a mechanical topper to remove the flowery tops from his plants in late May.

UNITED STATES

A Good Start For 2019

By mid June, planting of the flue-cured crop was nearing completion. Growers in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina were finished with setting and had begun topping, and North Carolina growers expected to finish by the fifteenth. Virginia flue growers had about a tenth of their acreage to go as of June 10. Burley transplanting was not as far along. In the leading state, 66 percent or the crop (including dark types), had been set in the field, while in Tennessee, the number two state, 63 percent (again including dark) had been planted.

Much of the flue-cured belt had suffered a hot dry spell in May, but it began raining for most in the last week of the month, culminating in some torrential storms in early June that lead to some drowning and washing. But as a whole, the crop was doing well in mid June.

In Kentucky, farmers continued to battle persistent rain, planting when they could. There were a few days of dry weather in the first week of June, allowing progress. But rain moved back in towards the end of the week.

NAMIBIA

Joint Leaf Venture Gets Government Green Light

KATIMA MULILO—A proposed 10,000-hectare tobacco-producing operation near Katima Mulilo in northeast Namibia has taken another regulatory step toward coming into existence, but not without objections from its detractors.

Namibia Oriental Tobacco, a joint Namibian/Chinese venture, obtained government approval in mid June for clearing land for the leaf facility, which will be located in the Zambezi Region of the country and will produce tobacco and maize which will be grown in rotation. Further clearances are still required. The tobacco will be 100 percent exported. The land is to be awarded a 99-year lease on the property, according to press reports.

One Namibian critic said the decision to award land to the Chinese is not just when Namibians seriously need land and that the country’s most fertile land is used to produce drugs and not food.

“To allocate more land for tobacco than is allocated for food production is a deviation from the policy direction taken by the Namibian government through its agriculture ministry,” said Job Amupanda, leader of the youth activists, a Namibian politician and academician.

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr. Richard Kamwi, objected that the project cut Namibian lives short. “It is very unfortunate that we just introduced [a] law [and] put it in practice last year July to stop smoking…but now we are planting tobacco,” he said.

The Chinese Ambassador to Namibia, Xin Shunkang, insisted that the project will be beneficial to the Namibian economy as a similar project in neighboring Zimbabwe has produced good effects for that economy, according to the NAMPA news agency.

“Zimbabwe’s tobacco quality is very good, and [the growers] have earned a lot of money through it,” said Zin. “So, I have suggested that Chinese companies teach Namibian farmers how to plant tobacco, for them to also earn money through this.”

He added, “I want to clarify that the tobacco produced here will not be sold or used in Namibia. Once there is a plantation and after the processing, it will be moved to the Chinese market.”

One outlet suggested that a workforce of 3,000 individuals would be employed.

Clearing forest land will be required. It is believed that little if any of the land involved is currently clear.

PARAGUAY

Excellent Quality, But Washed-Out Leaf

ASUNCION—Very irregular weather has affected the Criollo crop considerably, according to an April report from the Hail & Cotton leaf group. Long periods of drought were followed by weeks of uninterrupted rainfall, provoking both excellent tobacco quality but also washed-out leaves.

“We are now in the middle of the buying season and all is developing normally,” it said. “Estimated total green production is similar to last year (1.800 tons) and, hopefully, there will be no tobacco left unsold with the farmers.”

A campaign to persuade growers to use selected seed instead of seed saved from their previous crops is enjoying some success. “Yield per hectare is increased by 20 to 30 percent, generating high demand among tobacco growers. Leaf size has been increased but has maintained original Criollo characteristics and properties.”

ZIMBABWE

Leaf Market Still in the Doldrums

HARARE—The tobacco market here simply could not shake the price-depressing effect of weak world demand conditions and leaf quality that apparently doesn’t appeal to buyers.

Through June 11, the 56th day of sales, the average price for tobacco here (all flue-cured) was US$1.86 per kilogram.

At the same point in sales in 2018, price had been a dollar higher at US$2.91 per kilogram.

Adding to the growers’ distress, it was clear that the crop was short: 167.2 million pounds had been purchased by June 11, compared to 189.6 million pounds—nearly 12 percent less—at the same point in 2018 sales.

But industry leaders still bore some hope, perhaps unrealistically, that production might yet reach the preseason target of 220 million kilograms. Zimbabwe Tobacco Association chief executive Rodney Ambrose told Zimbabwean media that despite the challenges, he believed the was still attainable. “We still have at least one and half months to complete selling,” he pointed out in mid June.

In 2018, production was 252 million kilograms, a record.