Nigeria Sugar Market - Forecasts from 2022 to 2027

The Nigeria sugar market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.14% over the forecast period to reach US$494.116 million by 2027 from US$347.899 million in 2020. Sugar has high applicability in the food & beverage sector as a preservative, flavoring & coloring agent, and sweetener among others. Nigeria is witnessing rapid urbanization and development in food processing which has boosted people’s consumption scale of food & beverage items thereby simultaneously propelling the scale of sugar consumption. For instance, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, in May 2022, domestic sugar consumption in Nigeria stood at 1.62 million tons which represented an increase of 1.3% in comparison to 2021. Moreover, favorable investment inflows from market players for infrastructure development of the sugar sector have taken the market in a new direction.

Based on crop type, the Nigeria Sugar market is segmented as sugarcane and sugar beets. The sugarcane crop segment is expected to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period of the Nigeria sugar market, owing to the rapid increase in sugarcane farming coupled. For instance, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, in November 2022, the average sugarcane harvest area stood at 90,000 hectares which represented a 20% increase in comparison to the 75,000 hectares in 2021.

Favorable investment inflows to boost the sugar sector growth will positively impact the sugar market in Nigeria. The sugar sector in Nigeria is considered one of the major sectors and with the country witnessing an increase in domestic sugar consumption, major market players and institutions are undertaking investment strategies to boost sugar production in Nigeria. For instance, recently in November 2022, Dangote Group’s President announced a US$700 million investment in its Backward Integration Program to enhance its DSR Numan sugar refining capacity from 3,000 tonnes of cane per day to 6,000, 9,800, and 15,000 tcd. The company further revealed its plans to increase its sugar plantation area from 8,700 hectares in 2022 to 24,200 in the next seven years. Furthermore, Africa Finance Corporation, in December 2021, provided an investment of US$200 million to Nigeria-based sugar producer BUA Industries. The funding comes as a step to boost the country’s sugar sector. Such favorable investment

Market Developments:

Dangote Sugar, in December 2021, disclosed that the company’s production volume stood at 811,962 tonnes which represented an increase of 9.2% over the 743,858 tonnes produced in 2020. The company achieved such a high production rate owing to its improvement in operational efficiency despite the adverse impact created by the Apapa traffic gridlock situation.

Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC, in April 2021 announced the acquisition of additional 5,200 hectares of land at Sunti, which has expanded the Sunti Sugar Golden estate to 22,000 hectares. The acquisition came as the company’s commitment to boosting the sugar industry in Nigeria.

Covid 19

The lockdown restrictions to prevent the widespread COVID pandemic had a negligible impact on the sugar industry in Nigeria as the demand for sugar for domestic consumption saw a significant increase. For instance, according to the National Sugar Development Council, in 2020, sugar consumption stood at 1.53 million tons which represented a 9.3% increase in comparison to 2019. With the ease in lockdown restriction, the consumption scale is projected to increase thereby simultaneously increasing the production rate.

Market Segmentation:

By Type

• White Sugar
• Brown Sugar
• Confectioner Sugar
• Cane Sugar
• Others

By Crop

• Sugarcane
• Sugar beets

By Form

• Liquid
• Solid

By Distribution Channel

• Online
• Offline

By Application

• Preservative
• Texture Modifier
• Sweetener
• Flavoring & Coloring Agent
• Bulking Agent
• Others

By Industry Vertical

• Food & Beverage
• Pharmaceutical