South Africa is facing the sugar shortage issue as the local mills are not able to meet the local demand, said Chris Engelbrecht, the chairperson of the Association of Southern Africa Sugar Importers (Asasi),.
This has aggravated the problems of the country which is already facing food inflation spiked due to the war in Ukraine.
“The price of sugar has increased from R11 500 per tonne (excluding VAT) to R16 500 per tonne (excluding VAT),” said Engelbrecht.
“The minister’s office has issued warning thrice in the last 10 months about the shortage in the local sugar market. The first time was in July 2021 when about 300 000 tonnes of sugarcane were burnt by protesters. The second time was in December 2021 when the news was received in September that 1 million hectares of cane would not be crushed this season and the third time was in April 2022 when there was no sugar literally,” he further added.
