MBABANE – Eswatini’s sugar industry has managed to maintain strong revenues despite facing low global prices, erratic weather conditions, and market uncertainty in the 2024/25 financial year.
The Eswatini Sugar Association (ESA) reported a revenue of E7.7 billion, a slight increase from last year’s E7.4 billion, even though sugar had to be sold at just 16 cents per pound on the world market – a sharp drop from 19.89 cents per pound recorded in the previous season.
Releasing the association’s integrated financial report, ESA Chief Executive Officer Banele Nyamane said 640 738 tonnes of sugar were produced during the financial year. Production had previously declined over a five-year period, with 2023/24 registering the lowest output in that time.
Nyamane said the world market is currently experiencing a four-year low in prices, but despite this, the local industry has managed to remain stable. About E7.3 billion of the total revenue will be distributed to members, with 68.1 percent allocated to growers and 31.9 percent to millers.
A combination of factors affected yields in the past season. These included poor management practices, changing weather patterns linked to climate change, shorter seasons, soil health deterioration, pest outbreaks and sub-optimal crop varieties.
To deal with these pressures, the industry has adopted several mitigation strategies. These involve addressing disputes within farmer associations, monitoring trade policy uncertainty, managing the effects of climate variability, and assessing market movements more frequently.
The region’s sugar prices have also been undercut by increased imports into the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) region. These imports, encouraged by low tariffs and a strong Rand, are said to be undermining local earnings.
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