South Africa’s sugar industry is reeling under the weight of record-high imports, with SA Canegrowers warning that continued inaction could lead to catastrophic job losses and the collapse of a sector that supports more than 1-million livelihoods.
According to new figures from the South African Revenue Service, 153,344 tonnes of heavily subsidised sugar entered the country between January and September 2025 — triple the previous record of 55,213 tonnes in 2024 and nearly eight times the 20,924 tonnes imported over the same period in 2020.
According to SA Canegrowers, sugarcane growers produce more than enough sugar to meet local demand, “so imports are not required”.
At the heart of the crisis lies a double blow. On one hand, global sugar prices have come under pressure due to export and production subsidies by major sugar-exporting nations, which distort global market prices and undermine fair competition.
On the other, SA’s import tariff adjustment mechanisms failed to respond in time to stem the inflow of cheap imports. “This tariff delay meant that unprecedented amounts of foreign sugar flooded into South Africa,” the canegrowers said in a statement.
“However, this sugar is sold to end-consumers in South Africa at prices close to South African sugar. This gives foreign importers of sugar a healthy profit at the detriment of local growers and millers, meaning that the profits are effectively exported.”
The impact has already been severe, they said. Local sugar sales have dropped sharply, translating into an estimated R684m in lost revenue for the industry so far this year. According to SA Canegrowers, the future of 27,000 small-scale and 1,100 commercial growers, primarily in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, hangs in the balance.
The trade, industry & competition department acknowledged that cheap sugar imports “can seriously undermine local producers”.
‘Imports heavily subsidised’
The department told Business Day that the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) mechanism exists for the sugar tariffs “to protect the local industry when global sugar imports are heavily subsidised and priced below local production costs”.
“Under the new regulations, large users (retailers, factories, beverage and food producers) can commit to sourcing mostly domestic sugar, which guarantees demand for local growers and mills,” the department said.
In response to the issue, SA Canegrowers launched the “Save Our Sugar” campaign, which has seen more than 70,000 South Africans pledge to buy only locally produced sugar. The campaign urges consumers, retailers and food and beverage manufacturers to commit to sourcing local.
“We are hopeful that as the campaign unfolds with the help of South Africans, Proudly SA and the government, a crisis can be averted in the local sugar industry,” said SA Canegrowers chair Higgins Mdluli. “If it is not, hundreds of thousands of livelihoods are at risk which has a negative impact on the country as a whole.”
SA Canegrowers represents 24,000 small-scale and 1,200 large-scale sugarcane growers.
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