HARARE — The government has moved to rescue Zimbabwe’s 2026 tobacco auction season by ordering licensed merchants to start buying within two weeks or risk losing their licences.

The intervention comes after farmers began withdrawing their tobacco from auction floors in protest over prices as low as US$0.45 per kilogram.

The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) says only seven of the country’s 44 registered merchants have been active since the auction opened, creating a lack of competition that has pushed prices down and angered growers.

In a letter to merchants, TIMB chief executive Emmanuel Matsvaire warned that companies failing to participate could face consequences.

“TIMB notes that your organisation has not yet participated on the buying floors for the 2026 tobacco marketing season,” the regulator wrote.

“To prevent the hoarding of licences and ensure that all licensed buyers contribute meaningfully to the price-discovery process at the auction floors, the board directs that a period of 14 days is given for you to have utilised your licence.”

Figures from TIMB show a weak start to the marketing season.

In the first 24 hours of trading between March 4 and March 5, only 626,742 kilogrammes of tobacco valued at US$1.78 million were sold.

Over the same period last year, 1,245,242 kilogrammes worth US$4.17 million were sold.

The average price this year opened at US$2.85 per kilogramme, down from US$3.35 in the first 24 hours of the 2025 season.

The figures represent declines of about 50 percent in volume and 57 percent in value.

The sluggish start comes despite farmers delivering more tobacco than they had by the same time last year, according to Premier Tobacco Auction Floors operations manager Samuel Garapo.

Authorities hope that forcing more buyers onto the auction floors will improve competition and stabilise prices.

Zimbabwe sells about 95 percent of its tobacco through contract arrangements in which prices and offtake are agreed in advance between growers and merchants. Only a small share of the crop is sold through the auction system.

TIMB expects total tobacco sales this season to reach 400 million kilogrammes, up from 335 million kilogrammes last year.

The regulator has also asked inactive merchants to explain their absence and indicate their intended purchase volumes for the season, which could lead to a revision of the national sales target.

Obert Jiri, the lands and agriculture ministry secretary, said authorities expect conditions at the auction floors to improve.

“As more merchants come in and volumes increase, the market will begin to stabilise and prices start to firm,” Jiri said.