THE Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has ordered licensed Class A buyers to participate at all three auction floors beginning yesterday, saying the era of cherry-picking the busiest floor and abandoning the rest is over.
The directive comes amid low prices on the auction floors.
The 2026 Zimbabwe tobacco marketing season opened on March 4, 2026, with the first auction bale fetching US$4,60 per kg, although the market has been characterised by depressed prices, low-grade bales falling as low as US$0,50 to US$0,60 per kg amid protests from farmers regarding payment methods.
Despite a strong opening day, prices plummeted for mid-to-lower grades with TIMB citing a global supply surplus and reduced demand from major buyers like China as factors driving down prices.
Farmers expressed dissatisfaction over mandatory payout structures that include 30% of their earnings paid in ZiG, which they claim erodes their real income.
The industry projects a total crop output of up to 400 million kg, while more than 64 million kg of tobacco has already been sold across the country.
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“For years, buyers concentrated on one floor while growers in Karoi, Mvurwi and Rusape watched their crop rot in queues,” the regulator said.
According to TIMB chief executive Emmanuel Matsvaire, the statement invokes the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Act [Chapter 18:20], which gives the board power to prescribe buyer duties and impose penalties for defiance.
“Attendance registers will be kept on every floor,” he said.
The crackdown comes after Agriculture minister Anxious Masuka walked into a firestorm at Premier Tobacco Auction Floors last week.
Hundreds of furious farmers confronted him over collapsing prices averaging US$2/kg —- a gap of nearly US$2/kg below contract floors that’s leaving small growers unable to cover seed, fertiliser and labour costs.
In Karoi, farmers and transporters have waited nearly two weeks without a single sale due to slower uptake and selective buying.
For many, the season’s debt is piling up faster than their crop is moving.
TIMB said the directive was meant to strengthen competition, improve efficiency and deliver better service to growers across all platforms.
“Failure to comply means penalties,” it said.