South Africa Sugar Market - Forecasts from 2022 to 2027

The South Africa sugar market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.96% over the forecast period to reach US$599.386 million by 2027 from US$488.683 million in 2020. Sugar has high applicability in the food & beverage sector as a preservative, flavoring & coloring agent, and sweetener among others. South Africa is witnessing rapid urbanization and development in food processing which has boosted people’s consumption scale of food & beverage items thereby simultaneously propelling domestic sugar consumption. For instance, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, domestic sugar consumption in South Africa is expected to reach 1.77 million tons for the marketing year 2022-2023, representing a 2% increase from 1.73 million tons in 2021-2022. Moreover, as per the same source, sugar production in South Africa is estimated to reach 2.22 million tons from 2022-2023 representing a 12.5% increase over 1.97 million tons produced in the 2021-2022 marketing year. Such an increase the consumption as well as the production scale is projected to boost the market growth of the South African sugar market during the forecast period.

Based on crop type, the South Africa 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 South Africa sugar market, owing to the rapid increase in sugarcane production coupled with favorable weather conditions. For instance, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, sugar cane production will expand by 9% to 18.8 million metric tons for the marketing year 2022-2023 up from 17.2 million metric tons in 2021-2022. Furthermore, as per the same source, the yields are expected to increase to 69.6 metric tons/ hectare in 2022-2023 up from 68.5 metric tons/hectare in 2021-2022.

Favorable investments and initiatives by the South African government to boost the sugar sector growth will positively impact the sugar market in South Africa. Sugarcane is one of the major crops grown in South Africa and with the increase in the domestic consumption of sugar in the country, the government is undertaking various investments and implementing initiatives to boost sugar production. For instance, in November 2020, the Sugar Value Chain Master Plan was implemented by the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition to support small-scale sugar growers and to transform the industry to ensure its long-term sustainability. Moreover, from the Sugar Industry Fund of R1 billion established under the master plan, R200 million is to be allocated for the 2022-2023 season. Such favorable initiatives and investments will push the market growth of the South Africa sugar market in a new direction during the forecast period.

Covid 19

The COVID pandemic disrupted the production activities of the sugar industry in South Africa, thereby decreasing the production volume. For instance, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, in the marketing year 2020, the production scale of sugar stood at 2.11 million tons which showed a decrease of 7.8% in comparison to 2.29 million tons produced in 2019.

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