A review of South African sugarcane production in the 2021/22 season: climate, production and economics

ABSTRACT

This paper characterises South African sugarcane production for the 2021/22 milling season, from an agricultural perspective, to enable the industry to evaluate recent production strategies, and to identify priorities for improved efficiency. The industry's cane and sugar production during the 2021/22 season was 17.2 and 1.84 million tons, respectively. These figures show a marked drop of 5.6% for cane and 8.7% for sugar, when compared to the production figures for the 2020/21 season. The estimated industry average cane yield and quality also decreased slightly, compared to the previous season, but the main reason the drop in cane and sugar production was the limited milling capacity at several mills in KwaZulu-Natal. The civil unrest in July 2021 exacerbated the situation, causing disruptions to harvest and mill operations, as well as the subsequent closure of mills in parts of KwaZulu-Natal. The area harvested decreased considerably from an estimated 254 028 ha in 2020/21 to 241 030 ha in 2021/22 while estimated carry-over cane area increased from 24 029 ha to 32 476 ha over the same period. Rainfall was generally well above the long-term mean and well-distributed in most areas, while irrigation water supply also improved remarkably, compared to 2020 supply. Low temperatures and reduced sunshine duration caused yield reduction in the northern irrigated areas, but most rainfed areas experienced yield improvements when compared to 2020/21, because of the good rainfall. The Midlands region experienced severe frost damage during the winter of 2021, which had a negative impact on cane yield and quality. The Sugar Industry Value Chain Master Plan continued to help stabilise local sugar demand as well as reduce imports and exports at low world market prices, which all contributed to a 6% increase in the Recoverable Value (RV) price. This improved profitability for both largeand small-scale growers. COVID-19 had no noteworthy impact on sugarcane production.