The South African sugar industry has been successful in exporting for over a hundred years. One of South Africa’s biggest sugar producers and a household name, Tongaat-Hulett, has provided thousands of jobs and plans to provide more in the future.
The South African sugar industry has been successful in exporting for over a hundred years. One of South Africa’s biggest sugar producers and a household name, Tongaat-Hulett, has provided thousands of jobs and plans to provide more in the future.
Unfortunately, the sugar industry is a volatile one, with unpredictable price fluctuations. Currently the sugar prices are diminishing and are dangerously close to the cost of production in many exporting countries. The sizeable fluctuations in the sugar price throughout the year will eventually force South Africa and other sugar exporting countries to produce biofuel.
This will result in these countries getting more equitable prices for their produce because of the high need for alternative energy. As the world’s oil price increases due to the depletion of stock, there is a growing interest in alternative energy sources.
The United States believes that biofuels should be produced from maize, but maize needs more energy to convert starch into ethanol and provides less energy than sugar does. Ethanol may be the way forward leaving coal, oil and other non-renewable resources in the dust. South Africa will not only reap the benefits of a more constant and competitive price for sugar but will also be able to expand the economy and development.
J&J Bioenergy is looking into two biofuel projects in South Africa. One planned factory will produce about 100 million litres of ethanol and kick start this development. The factories will buy cut cane from the locals and “pay a fair price” which will add income to the local economies.
The addition to biofuels as a potential expansion in the sugar industry is an important one to consider not only for economic reasons but because a country that relies less heavily on non-renewable energy resources will have less to worry about in the future.
