{"id":43174,"date":"2025-09-04T11:35:55","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T11:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/04\/job-losses-loom-for-south-african-sugar-farmers-amid-trade-challenges\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T11:35:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T11:35:55","slug":"job-losses-loom-for-south-african-sugar-farmers-amid-trade-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/04\/job-losses-loom-for-south-african-sugar-farmers-amid-trade-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Job losses loom for South African sugar farmers amid trade challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

South Africa\u2019s sugar farmers face a \u201cdouble whammy\u201d from cheap imports and US tariffs, which have been eating into their earnings. <\/p>\n

Nkosinathi Msweli’s sugarcane farm in KwaDukuza, a predominantly rural and impoverished region on South Africa’s eastern coast, has for three decades represented a consistent, albeit modest, economic achievement, providing employment for eight full-time staff and 30 seasonal workers, according to a Reuters report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, cheap sugar imports had already begun to erode his profits when US President Donald Trump imposed a substantial tariff on South African imports, resulting in what Msweli described as a “double whammy” that now compels the 53-year-old to confront difficult decisions.<\/p>\n

“All in all, I will have to cut about 20 workers from this current season,” Msweli was quoted in the report.<\/p>\n

\n

The person that is here in the field maybe has 10 lives that he’s supporting.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

South Africa sugar industry<\/h2>\n

Supporting over 300,000 jobs directly and indirectly, South Africa’s sugar industry is valued at approximately 25 billion rand ($1.42 billion). <\/p>\n

This sector plays a crucial role in a nation grappling with one of the highest unemployment rates globally.<\/p>\n

In South Africa, a nation where agricultural land ownership remains primarily in the hands of a white minority, a direct consequence of the country’s apartheid history, the nearly 26,000 small-scale farmers are predominantly Black, working alongside 1,100 large-scale growers.<\/p>\n

However, the sector is increasingly vulnerable to headwinds due to a confluence of market forces and political factors.<\/p>\n

South African farmers face stiff competition from inexpensive imports, particularly from nearby Eswatini, which enjoys a competitive edge due to preferential access under a regional customs agreement. <\/p>\n

Global production weigh on prices<\/h2>\n

Adding to their difficulties are the low global sugar prices, a consequence of abundant harvests in key producing nations such as India and Brazil.<\/p>\n

The imposition of a 30% tariff by the Trump administration on imports from South Africa is poised to deliver a substantial blow to the nation’s export economy as well. <\/p>\n

This significant tariff increase could severely impact various sectors within South Africa that rely heavily on international trade, leading to reduced demand for their products in the American market. <\/p>\n

The ripple effects of such a policy could include a decline in export revenues, potential job losses in export-oriented industries, and a broader slowdown in economic growth. <\/p>\n

Possible trade agreement <\/h2>\n

Under the African Growth and Opportunities Act, the US previously allowed South Africa to export 24,000 metric tons of sugar duty-free.<\/p>\n

The US market, despite accounting for only 5% of South Africa’s total sugar exports, has been crucial for the South African Cane Growers’ Association. <\/p>\n

It provides high prices, which helps to maintain domestic employment.<\/p>\n

While the extent of potential job losses is still uncertain, the industry association is pressing the government to finalise a trade agreement with Washington to protect exports to the US.<\/p>\n

“If we don’t have good trade relationships with the US, it’s going to be detrimental, not just to our sector, but to many others as well,” Pratish Sharma, a member of the association’s board, was quoted in the Reuters report.<\/p>\n

A potential deal, if it materialises, will likely be too late for the current season. Msweli, calculating the impending costs, anticipates significant hardship.<\/p>\n

He said:<\/p>\n

\n

All this is going to cause starvation and hunger.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The post Job losses loom for South African sugar farmers amid trade challenges<\/a> appeared first on Invezz<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa\u2019s sugar farmers face a \u201cdouble whammy\u201d from cheap imports and US tariffs, which have been eating into their earnings.  Nkosinathi Msweli’s sugarcane farm in KwaDukuza, a predominantly rural and impoverished region on South Africa’s eastern coast, has for three decades represented a consistent, albeit modest, economic achievement, providing employment for eight full-time staff <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43174","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-investing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}