Who Owns Whom

Sugar Industry South Africa

The Sugar Industry in South Africa 2020

Yasmin Mahomedy | South Africa | 29 June 2020

The Sugar Industry in South Africa 2018

Yasmin Mahomedy | South Africa | 19 January 2018

The Sugar Industry in South Africa 2015

Belinda Clatworthy | South Africa | 09 November 2015

Enquire about this report

Report Coverage

This report focuses on the manufacture of sugar in South Africa, with information on the state and size of the sector, major players and their brands and performance, and factors influencing the sector. There are profiles of nine companies including notable players such as Tongaat Hulett, Illovo and RCL Foods and mills such as Umfolozi

Manufacture of Sugar

South Africa is a major sugar producer on the continent. The country’s crippled economy, cheap imports, changing consumption patterns, low international sugar prices, and the tax on sugar-sweetened beverages are some of the factors that have caused the industry to decline over the past few years. According to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, the local sugar industry needs to consider diversifying its products if it is to remain viable and create jobs. The government has pledged to work with sugarcane growers and millers and announced it would produce a master plan for the sector.

South Africa and the Global Market

The industry continues to face major challenges and is struggling to operate in the global market. The industry’s decline has largely been due to declining sales volumes, the sugar tax, low international sugar prices, and competition from cheap imports, mainly from Brazil and recently Eswatini. Increasing volumes of cheap imports from subsidised global producers has led to a decline in small-scale sugarcane farmers in rural areas and the mothballing and closure of two sugar mills for the current season.

Biofuel and Renewable Electricity

The industry believes in the need to diversify into biofuel, other cane-derived products and other suitable crops. Sugar mills produce their own electricity from sugarcane biomass. The industry estimates that it could supply at least 400MW of electricity to the grid if the mills had access to soft loans for the installation of additional boilers and factory upgrades. Studies have shown that a biofuel programme could create thousands of new jobs in rural areas and reduce fuel imports.

Read More..
The Sugar Industry in South Africa 2020

Full Report

R 1 900.00(ZAR) estimated $101.93 (USD)*

Industry Overview

R 1 330.00(ZAR) estimated $ 71.35 (USD)*

Historical Reports

The Sugar Industry in South Africa 2018-01-19

R 1 900.00(ZAR) estimated $101.93 (USD)*

View Report Add to Cart

The Sugar Industry in South Africa 2015-11-09

R 1 900.00(ZAR) estimated $101.93 (USD)*

View Report Add to Cart

Table of Contents

[ Close ]
PAGE
1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY 1
2.1. Industry Value Chain 4
2.2. Geographic Position 5
3. SIZE OF THE INDUSTRY 7
4. STATE OF THE INDUSTRY 7
4.1. Local 7
4.1.1. Corporate Actions 15
4.1.2. Regulations 15
4.1.3. Enterprise Development and Socio-Economic Development 17
4.2. Continental 20
4.3. International 22
5. INFLUENCING FACTORS 23
5.1. Economic Environment and Input Costs 23
5.2. Coronavirus 24
5.3. Government Initiatives 25
5.4. Land Reform 25
5.5. Health Concerns 25
5.6. Technology, Research and Development (R&D) and Innovation 26
5.7. Labour 27
5.8. Cyclicality 28
5.9. Environmental Concerns 28
6. COMPETITION 30
6.1. Barriers to Entry 31
7. SWOT ANALYSIS 31
8. OUTLOOK 32
9. INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS 32
10. REFERENCES 33
10.1. Publications 33
10.2. Websites 33
APPENDIX 1 34
Summary of Notable players 34
COMPANY PROFILES 36
A J PRODUCTS (NATAL) CC 36
A J PRODUCTS (WESTERN CAPE) CC 38
CROOKES BROTHERS LTD 40
GLEDHOW SUGAR COMPANY (PTY) LTD 44
ILLOVO SUGAR AFRICA (PTY) LTD 46
RCL FOODS SUGAR AND MILLING (PTY) LTD 48
TONGAAT HULETT LTD 52
U C L COMPANY (PTY) LTD 57
UMFOLOZI SUGAR MILL (PTY) LTD 60

Report Coverage

The report on the South African sugar industry examines current conditions, the difficulties faced by producers and the factors that influence the success of the sector. Profiles for nine companies active in the sugar industry are provided. These include RCL Foods Sugar and Milling (Pty) Ltd t/a TSB Sugar, which has sugar estates and three sugar mills, and Gledhow Sugar Company (Pty) Ltd which produces 1.55 million tons of sugar cane and 132,000 tons of sugar per annum. The company in partnership with the Ithala Development Finance Corporation has supported farm ownership by small-scale farmers, which has resulted in increased agro-processing activity. Between 45% and 50% of Gledhow’s sugar cane is sourced from these land reform growers, who are also shareholders in the mill.

The South African Sugar Industry

In general the local sugar industry contributes more than R12bn to the economy and 0.6% towards GDP, is responsible for 85,000 direct and 350,000 indirect jobs and has export earnings of R2.5bn annually. There are 23,866 registered sugar cane growers who farm more than 371,662 hectares of sugar cane and produce approximately 19.9 million tons of cane annually. An average of 2.2 million tons of sugar is normally produced per season and more than 37% of this sugar is marketed via the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).

Effects of the Drought

The crippling drought experienced during the last two years resulted in an estimated loss of R1.7bn in gross revenue during the 2015/16 season while the 2016/2017 season was described as one of the worst in the history of the South African sugar industry. Although production for the 2017/2018 season seems more promising, the South African Cane Growers’ Association (SACGA) and the South African Sugar Millers’ Association (SASMA) believe that more favourable economic conditions for sugar cane production and processing need to be fostered in order to protect and grow the sector.

Read More..
The Sugar Industry in South Africa 2018

Full Report

R 1 900.00(ZAR) estimated $101.93 (USD)*

Industry Overview

R 1 330.00(ZAR) estimated $ 71.35 (USD)*

Historical Reports

The Sugar Industry in South Africa 2020-06-29

R 1 900.00(ZAR) estimated $101.93 (USD)*

View Report Add to Cart

The Sugar Industry in South Africa 2015-11-09

R 1 900.00(ZAR) estimated $101.93 (USD)*

View Report Add to Cart

Table of Contents

[ Close ]
PAGE
1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY 1
2.1. Industry Value Chain 2
2.2. Geographic Position 4
3. SIZE OF THE INDUSTRY 4
4. STATE OF THE INDUSTRY 7
4.1. Local 7
4.1.1. Corporate Actions 12
4.1.2. Regulations 12
4.1.3. Enterprise Development and Social Economic Development 15
4.2. Continental 17
4.3. International 19
5. INFLUENCING FACTORS 20
5.1. Economic Environment and Rising Operating Costs 20
5.2. Government Initiatives 21
5.3. Land Reform 21
5.4. Health Concerns 22
5.5. Technology, Research and Development (R&D) and Innovation 22
5.6. Labour 24
5.7. Cyclicality 25
5.8. Environmental Concerns 25
6. COMPETITION 27
6.1. Barriers to Entry 28
7. SWOT ANALYSIS 28
8. OUTLOOK 29
9. INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS 29
10. REFERENCES 30
10.1. Publications 30
10.2. Websites 30
COMPANY PROFILES 31
A J PRODUCTS (NATAL) CC 31
A J PRODUCTS (WESTERN CAPE) CC 32
CROOKES BROTHERS LTD 34
GLEDHOW SUGAR COMPANY (PTY) LTD 38
ILLOVO SUGAR AFRICA (PTY) LTD 40
RCL FOODS SUGAR AND MILLING (PTY) LTD 43
TONGAAT HULETT LTD 47
U C L COMPANY (PTY) LTD 51
UMFOLOZI SUGAR MILL (PTY) LTD 54

Report Coverage

This report on the local sugar industry examines the current conditions and describes how despite its comparative production efficiencies, the South African sugar industry finds it difficult to export profitably to the world market. Factors influencing the success of the industry are also discussed and seven sugar milling companies are profiled. These include market leader Illovo Sugar Ltd, which has an estimated 30% share of the domestic sugar market and manufactures 70 million litres of ethanol per annum.

The South African Sugar Industry

South Africa rates as one of the world leaders in the production of high quality sugar, grossing an annual turnover of R12bn. From the approximately 19.9 million tons of sugar cane harvested annually by 24,000 registered sugar cane growers, an average of 2.2 million tons of sugar is produced per season. Roughly 75% of this sugar is marketed via the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) with the remainder being delivered to the South African Sugar Association (SASA) for export to markets in Africa, Asia and the USA. The industry generates approximately 79,000 direct jobs, which equates to more than 11% of the total agricultural workforce in the country.

Environmental Opportunities and Difficulties

Globally, the sugar industry is developing an environmental awareness and the South African sugar industry has recognised the need to diversify. As such it is well-positioned to be a much-needed contributor to the production of renewable energy, bio-fuels and bio-plastics. This, however, is dependent on climatic conditions. The South African sugar cane crop in the 2014/15 season was adversely affected by frost and drought conditions that are likely to have cost the industry about R920m. Cane production for this period dropped by more than 11% from the 2013/14 season to 17.7 million tons. So far in the 2015/16 season, nine of the eleven districts in KwaZulu-Natal where more than 80% of the nation’s sugar is produced have been declared disaster areas because of drought. This will have a severe impact on sugar cane farmers who are expecting an estimated loss of more than R1.7bn in gross revenue for the season.

Read More..
The Sugar Industry in South Africa 2015

Full Report

R 1 900.00(ZAR) estimated $101.93 (USD)*

Industry Overview

R 1 330.00(ZAR) estimated $ 71.35 (USD)*

Historical Reports

The Sugar Industry in South Africa 2020-06-29

R 1 900.00(ZAR) estimated $101.93 (USD)*

View Report Add to Cart

The Sugar Industry in South Africa 2018-01-19

R 1 900.00(ZAR) estimated $101.93 (USD)*

View Report Add to Cart

Table of Contents

[ Close ]
PAGE
1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY 1
2.1. Industry Value Chain 2
2.2. Geographic Position 4
3. SIZE OF THE INDUSTRY 5
4. STATE OF THE INDUSTRY 8
4.1. Local 8
4.1.1. Corporate Actions 11
4.1.2. Regulations 12
4.1.3. Enterprise Development and Social Economic Development 14
4.2. Continental 16
4.3. International 18
5. INFLUENCING FACTORS 21
5.1. Government Intervention 21
5.2. Labour 21
5.3. Economic Environment 23
5.4. Land Reform 24
5.5. Cyclicality 24
5.6. Health Concerns 24
5.7. Research and Development (R&D) and Innovation 25
5.8. Environmental Concerns 26
6. COMPETITION 27
6.1. Barriers to Entry 28
7. SWOT ANALYSIS 28
8. OUTLOOK 29
9. INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS 29
10. REFERENCES 29
10.1. Publications 29
10.2. Websites 30
COMPANY PROFILES 31
CROOKES BROTHERS LTD 31
GLEDHOW SUGAR COMPANY (PTY) LTD 35
ILLOVO SUGAR LTD 38
RCL FOODS SUGAR AND MILLING (PTY) LTD 42
TONGAAT HULETT LTD 48
UCL COMPANY LTD 52
UMFOLOZI SUGAR MILL (PTY) LTD 54