Agro-industrial concern, TSL Limited, says its Agricura unit was negatively affected by the El Niño weather conditions during the quarter ended July 31, 2024.
The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed group said volumes were depressed across most product lines as demand was low during the quarter.
Agricura is one of Zimbabwe’s leading providers of crop chemicals and veterinary products. It provides a comprehensive range of crop chemicals that include grain protectants, herbicides, and fertilisers.
Under veterinary chemicals and pest control services, Agricura provides and distributes insecticides, fungicides, fumigants, rodenticides, nematicides, and human health remedies.
TSL provides agri-services through the provision of chemicals, packaging, agronomy services and a platform to sell agricultural produce.
In its trading update, TSL said its Tobacco Sales Floor unit handled 52.5 million kilogrammes (kgs) of tobacco during the quarter ended July 31, 2024 compared to 52 million kgs in the comparative period.
Contracted tobacco represented 84% of the volume handled by the Tobacco Sales Floor, a 13% growth from the previous year.
While tobacco volumes have been encouraging, Propak Hessian volumes were down by 27% due to lower demand from tobacco merchants as the national crop size declined.
The group said tobacco paper volumes saw a 39% increase during the quarter under review due to increased market share.
Despite the adverse weather, the farming operations achieved better yields of tobacco and soya bean compared to the previous year.
The banana plantation also saw a 13% increase in volumes for the quarter, aided by a new irrigation system.
