MBABANE - Eswatini’s sugar industry, is under mounting pressure as a surge of cheap imported sugar into the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) market threatens domestic sales, prices and grower earnings.
The sugar industry is the backbone of the national economy and a critical source of income for thousands of rural households.
This development follows escalating concerns in South Africa, where the sugar sector has warned of a looming crisis. According to the South African Canegrowers Association (SA Canegrowers), sugar imports into the South African market have surged by over 400 per cent this year.
Imports rose from 35 730 tonnes between January and August 2024 to 149 099 tonnes in the same period of 2025.
Intervention
As a result, sales of South African produced sugar have dropped by more than 100 000 tonnes, representing a 13 per cent decline year-on-year.
“This 13 per cent year-on-year drop in sales threatens to decimate the industry,” SA Canegrowers said, calling for decisive intervention to curb imports.
In an interview, Eswatini Sugar Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Banele Nyamane confirmed that the situation is having direct consequences for Eswatini’s sugar sector.
“The imports have come into the SACU market, which we share with South Africa, and this will have an impact on our local sugar industry,” Nyamane said.
He explained that during the ESA results presentation in July, they had already identified SACU market instability–driven by imports pushed in under low tariff conditions–as a major risk.
“Unfortunately, it has now materialised. What is more worrying is that the volume of imports entering the market is much higher than what we have seen in previous years,” he added.
Due to the customs union arrangement, which enables the free movement of goods across member States, the SACU region is considered Eswatini’s domestic market.
Around 73 per cent of Eswatini’s sugar is sold within SACU, making market conditions in South Africa particularly decisive for local pricing and grower earnings.
Eswatini and South Africa are the only sugar producers in SACU, meaning both industries depend heavily on coordinated market protection measures to maintain stability and safeguard rural livelihoods.
SA Canegrowers attributes the surge in imports to heavily subsidised sugar from countries such as Brazil and India, where government support enables producers to export sugar at below true production cost. This, the organisation said, has distorted global trade and allows middlemen to profit without translating the savings to consumers.
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Eswatini Sugar CEO Banele Nyamane. (File pic)