Photo for illustration. (Photo: Pixabay)
The 2026-27 South African sugarcane milling season has started promisingly, with early deliveries performing significantly better than in previous years.
This strong start reflects the resilience and determination of the country’s approximately 28,000 sugarcane growers, who continue to keep the industry afloat despite major economic challenges.
All the country’s sugar mills – apart from the three mills of the struggling Tongaat Hulett group – have already opened for the new season. Early statistics also indicate that producers have already delivered 48% more raw sugarcane to mills than in the same period last year.
However, for the regions that are still waiting for the opening of Tongaat Hulett’s mill, there is also hope. The company’s three sugar mills are expected to begin receiving deliveries from growers in their respective areas in the coming weeks.
This mill plays a key role in the local sugar industry and supports around 18,000 sugar cane growers nationwide.
(Archive photo: Tongaat Hulett)
Higgins Mdluli, chairman of the South African Sugar Cane Growers’ Association, says the industry hopes that producers in these regions will continue to have a successful season.
“We hope that growers who deliver to the Tongaat Hulett mill, and who start the season later than other growing regions, will still have a productive and successful season despite the uncertainty surrounding the company.
“The industry continues to show remarkable resilience, even under extremely difficult circumstances,” says Mdluli.
Tongaat Hulett recently received a financial injection of R200 million in the form of additional operational funding from the Industrial Development Corporation (INDC). The aid was given while critical negotiations continue to prevent the company from being liquidated.
The liquidation application will go before the court again on 17 June. Meanwhile, discussions between stakeholders – including Tongaat Hulett’s business rescue practitioners, the Vision group and the NOC – continue in an attempt to find a sustainable solution.
(Photo: Tongaat Hulett/Webtuiste)
Cheap imports are strangling local market
While the industry is already under pressure due to uncertainty surrounding Tongaat Hulett, local producers are also being hit by large volumes of imported sugar that continue to flow into South Africa from countries such as Brazil, Thailand and India.
This imported sugar displaces locally produced sugar from the domestic market and puts enormous financial pressure on the industry. According to the industry, the South African sugar sector loses more than R7 500 for every tonne of sugar imported.
Moreover, the situation is rapidly worsening. In March this year alone, 16,000 tonnes of imported sugar entered South Africa, twice as much as in March last year.
According to Mdluli, last year was already one of the worst years in terms of sugar imports, with around 213,000 tonnes of sugar imported from taxable countries. If there is no urgent intervention, the same pattern may repeat itself this year.
“This puts tremendous pressure on local sugar cane growers and mill companies, including Tongaat Hulett.”
Photo for illustration only. (Photo: Josh Withers / Unsplash)
Pleas for protection, the way forward
The South African Sugar Cane Growers’ Association has long warned that the current sugar tariff mechanism no longer offers sufficient protection to the local industry and that it cannot protect South African producers from heavily subsidized international competitors.
According to the association, many of the world’s largest sugar-producing countries receive extensive government aid for their sugar industries.
“This keeps world sugar prices unnaturally low and harms South African producers in the local and export markets.”
The Commission for International Trade Administration of South Africa is currently reviewing the tariff mechanism for imported sugar. The sugar industry already requested in October 2024 that this review be carried out, as the current situation threatens the income of around one million people.
Mdluli made an urgent appeal to the authorities to intervene for the sake of the thousands of people who depend on the industry.
“Rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga depend on sugar cane farming for jobs and economic activity and the industry supports more than a million subsistence farmers throughout the value chain.”
Despite the ongoing challenges, growers continue to prove that South Africa can produce sufficient, cost-competitive sugar to meet local demand.
“We hope that the industry’s significant contribution to food security, rural development and the national economy will receive the protection and policy attention it deserves,” says Mdluli.