STAKEHOLDERS in the tobacco industry want merchants to offer prices that tally with the international markets for the 2013 tobacco marketing season. The structure, they said, would allow farmers to achieve parity after marketing. They want farmers to be paid US$5 and above for a kilogramme of tobacco.

Last season auction floors offered US$4,99 per kilogramme as their highest price. Their counterparts on the contract side offered as high as US$5, 90 per kilogramme. The marketing season starts on February 13.

Last season, Brazil at one point offered US$10 for a kilogramme but dwelt more on the average price of US$3.39 per kg, Argentina offered US$2.50 per kg, Malawi bought for US$2,19 per kg while South Africa offered US$4,03 per kg.

The United States bought tobacco at the average price of US$2 per pound while India offered 140 rupees, the equivalent of US$2,60 per kilogramme.