Heavy Floods in South Africa Damages Sugarcane Crop

Sugar

Sugarcane

South Africa

Market & Price Trends

Published Apr 27, 2022

Recent flooding in the main sugarcane growing region of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa has affected the ready-to-harvest sugarcane crop. According to preliminary estimates, 2,516.65 hectares of sugarcane crop have been impacted, with a total loss of around R194.9 million. In addition, many roads and bridges leading to sugar mills have been destroyed, further creating a shortage of canes to process into centrifugal sugar. These mills are left with no option but to import sugarcane from Eswatini. This will jeopardise the profits of local farmers who are already struggling with lower production volumes as an aftermath of the flood. The stakeholders are hopeful that the government will introduce assistance for farmers and growers of the region to overcome these challenges.

South Africa is among the fastest growing sugarcane producing countries in the world, holding a spot in the top 10 exporters of centrifugal sugar. The USDA projects that in marketing year (MY) 2021-22 (May 2021–April 2022), the production of centrifugal sugar will be down by 7%. These projections are a result of a reduction in cane volume available for processing and the low quality of sugarcane available due to lower mill efficiencies. As farmers in South Africa were wrapping up the season and the cane was ready to harvest, one of the main sugarcane producing regions of KwaZulu Natal faced severe floods. The government has undertaken a survey to understand the impact of this sudden climate event on the sugarcane that was ready for harvest.

As of April 19th, 2022, 300 sugarcane growers had responded to the survey, stating that there was an aggregate loss of 2,516.65 hectares of sugarcane crop. The damage was beyond repair, with only a total replanting of these fields being able to bring the volume lost back into the production cycle. According to the South African CaneGrowers CEO, Dr. Thomas Funke, the floods have also damaged many local roads and bridges, which were crucial for transport nodes to mills and access routes for farm inputs and workers employed on these farms. As per the estimates from the survey, the floods may have caused damage worth R194.9 million and the figure might increase even more as the situation unfolds.

With reduced sugarcane volumes and the inability of farmers to transport the stocked canes to the mills due to damaged roadways, South African sugar mills are concerned about the availability of sugarcane. According to Business Day, several manufacturers are struggling to locate sugar and have been forced to turn to imports. Most of the imports are tariff-free imports from Eswatini, which is the biggest exporter of sugar to South Africa. This could potentially jeopardise the profits of local farmers who are already struggling with lower production volumes and the aftermath of the flood. The farmers and association members are hopeful that they will be given financial and infrastructure relief from the government to allow all affected growers to replant their cane fields. Local farmers would additionally need cash flow assistance while they rebuild their farms in order to be in production by the next harvest season.