At least 66.7 million kg of flue-cured tobacco valued at 108.6 million US dollars have been sold since the selling season opened on April 5, local media the Herald reported on Monday.

The 2005 selling season enters its penultimate week on Monday as it is expected to close on Tuesday next week.

At 66.7 million kg, this season's deliveries are 0.14 percent lower than the 66.8 million kg which had gone under the hammer by the same day last season.

The current season has also witnessed a 19.18 percent decrease in the average price to 1.62 dollars per kg from the 2.01 dollars per kg last year. The fall in average price has largely been attributed to the low quality of the crop on offer.

This year's crop has been affected by low rainfall and late planting which has seen the leaf fetching lower prices compared to the same period last year.

It is expected that around 70 million kg of the golden leaf would have gone under the hammer by the time the season closes.

Of Zimbabwe's three auction floors, Tobacco Sales Floor is the most popular with growers as a total of 19.8 million kg have been sold there followed by Burley Marketing Zimbabwe at 11.3 million kg.

The Zimbabwe Industry Tobacco Auction Center is third in the pecking order accounting for 9.4 million kg.

At its peak in 2000, tobacco production reached 237 million kg,making the country the third largest producer of tobacco after Brazil and the United States.

Source: Xinhua