Mkushi
The farm
Where the crop is grown and cured. Scale, agronomy and water.
The platform
One chain, five steps, no hand-offs.
Built so leaf moves from our seedbeds to the vessel without leaving our control — every step run by our own teams from the first 2027/28 crop and the plant’s 2028 commissioning. Today the desk trades partner-sourced leaf under the same quality discipline.
Lilayi
The processing plant
Where leaf will be threshed, redried and packed to specification — commissioning 2028.
STT Trading
The trading desk
Where buyers deal. Sampling, specifications, logistics and documentation.
The build-out
Where the programme stands.
The platform is being built in stages, and we state the stage plainly. Dates below are planned dates, not achievements; this page changes as each one lands.
Today
Operating estate
1 800 ha under irrigation at Mkushi, thirty recorded harvest seasons, tobacco ramping from 80 to 600 ha.
Sep 2026
Estate transfer completes
The Mkushi estate completes its transfer to the Group.
2026–27
Line manufacture
SUR Engenharia manufactures the Lilayi GLT line in Brazil.
2027/28 (harvest Q2 2028)
First Group-grown crop
The first tobacco season planted and cured under the Group’s own programme.
2028
Commissioning and first own-chain shipments
The Lilayi plant commissions; the first processed export volumes follow from the 2027/28 crop.