Crisis looms for South African sugar growers as imports skyrocket
South African sugarcane growers warn of a looming crisis due to a staggering 400% increase in imports which is having a severe impact on the sale of locally produced sugar.
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South Africa’s sugarcane growers have warned of an impending crisis in the local sugar industry, as it warned of a flood of cheap, heavily subsidised imported sugar displaces locally produced sugar from retail shelves and food manufacturing supply chains.
According to SA Canegrowers, sugar imports in 2025 have already surged by more than 400% compared to last year, rising from 35,730 tons between January and August 2024 to 149,099 tons during the same period in 2025. The organisation said this surge has directly caused a drop of more than 100,000 tons in sales of locally produced sugar.
“This 13% year-on-year drop in sales threatens to decimate the industry,” SA Canegrowers said, adding that “more needs to be done to halt sugar imports.”
The group, which represents 24,000 small-scale and 1,200 large-scale sugarcane growers, stated that the livelihoods of thousands of rural households in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga are now at risk. “The livelihoods of these growers and the families they support are under threat,” it warned.
The surge in imports has been attributed to weak trade protection measures, which the government partially addressed in August when import tariffs were adjusted. However, SA Canegrowers said this had not gone far enough. “Even with the adjusted import tariff, heavily subsidised sugar is still flooding into South Africa,” the organisation said.
It blamed countries such as Brazil and India for distorting the global sugar market through subsidies that allow their exporters to sell sugar below its true production value. “Opportunistic importers bring this sugar into South Africa and sell it at prices similar to locally produced sugar, thereby pocketing huge profits at no benefit to consumers,” SA Canegrowers stated.
The organisation estimates that for every ton of foreign sugar sold in South Africa, the local industry loses R7,600, translating to more than R760 million in lost revenue based on the current decline in domestic sales.
SA Canegrowers has called on consumers, retailers, and food and drink manufacturers to “commit to buying locally grown sugar” and urged the government to enact stronger trade measures to protect the industry. It also renewed its call for the sugar tax to be reviewed and scrapped, describing it as a policy “that lacks evidence and has destroyed jobs.”
Consumers are encouraged to check packaging carefully. “Sugar that is merely ‘packed’ in South Africa, or indicates countries of origin other than South Africa, threatens the livelihoods of rural South Africans,” the organisation said.