Urgent efforts needed to save South Africa's sugar industry - Proudly SA

THE colossal purchasing power of consumers, the public and private sector, is the only saving grace that can salvage thousands of jobs that will be potentially lost by the local sugar industry, which is buckling under the flurry of cheap imports.

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SIMMERING concerns about the influx of cheap sugar imports onto South African shores are not unfounded, says the author.

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Simmering concerns about the influx of cheap sugar imports onto South African shores are not unfounded. South African Cane Growers Association recently reported that for every ton of foreign sugar sold in South Africa, the local industry loses R7 600.

Considering the drop in local sugar sales this year of 100 000 tonnes, this equates to a loss of more than R760 million to the local sugar industry.

Industry figures compiled by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) also attest to the dire state the industry finds itself in.

The department reports that annual sugar production in South Africa has declined by nearly 25%, from 2.75 million to 2.1 million tons per annum over the past 20 years.

The number of sugarcane farmers has decreased by 60% during the same period, while sugar industry-related jobs are estimated to have slumped by 45%. The number of people adversely impacted by the deluge of sugar imports affects the livelihoods of 24 000 small-scale and 1 200 large-scale sugarcane growers and puts on the line an estimated 65 000 direct jobs and an additional 270 000 indirect jobs in the downstream.