The South African sugar industry is warning once again that dumped sugar imports are placing thousands of local jobs at risk and undermining rural livelihoods.
Sugar producers have waged a drawn-out battle against dumped imports, but say the threat remains real.
Higgins Mdluli, chair of the SA Canegrowers association, said in a media statement that the industry was increasingly vulnerable due to unfair global trade practices and other pressures such as mill closures, unpredictable weather, and the sugar tax.
SA Canegrowers has flagged growing concerns about imported sugar entering South Africa at prices below both the global market rate and local production costs. Mdluli attributed this to sugar dumping and state subsidies from other countries.
“Foreign sugar is currently entering South Africa at prices below the cost of production and below the global sugar price, owing to some foreign governments either heavily subsidising their industries or countries dumping their excess sugar at a loss,” he said.
For every tonne of imported sugar, local growers lose an estimated R6,000 in income, the industry says, with job losses across the value chain inevitable if the trend continues. Rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, which rely heavily on sugarcane farming for employment, remain particularly at risk.
“Local canegrowers need greater protection from unfair sugar dumping and subsidised cheap imports,” Mdluli said.
