Chart 16
• Flue-cured output totaled 195,000 tons in 2001, down from 237,000 tons the year prior,
although better growing conditions along with higher yielding varieties pushed yields in
some areas up by much as 30 percent.
• Flue-cured exports in 2001 improved to around 180,000 tons, after falling off considerably in
2000. You can see that exports are vital to the wellbeing of Zimbabwe’s tobacco sector, with
over 95 percent of production going into the export market.
China
Chart 17 - STAGES
• I’ve already shown the significance of China as a producer, consumer and exporter.
• And we can see here that China’s planted area has grown fairly steadily over the last 40
years.
• However, over production pushed stocks to more than 3.2 million tons at the end of 1998, but
efforts to bring supply and demand more in balance have been successful and production and
stock levels are returning to more optimal levels.
Chart 18
• As you can see here, production has remained relatively stable over the last few years.
• In 2001, output rose slightly to about 2.6 million tons, although area planted took a slight dip.
• Flue-cured accounts for about 90 percent of output and totaled 2.3 million tons in 2001,
that’s up slightly from 2000.
Chart 19
• On the export side, over the last few years China has begun to make an impact on the
international market.
• For 2001, exports totaled almost 115,000 tons, that’s up slightly from 2000, nearly it’s nearly
4 times more than 10 years ago.
• Although exports account for only about 4 percent of China’s total leaf output, China has
realized the importance of exports and is pursuing a more aggressive export strategy.
China has now become the world’s third leading flue-cured exporter.