Declining Production: The Sugar Industry at the Time of Reinvention

The sugar production forecast for 2025 has been revised downwards to 215,000 tons, marking a negative record. After fifteen years of decline, with abandoned fields and strained factories, the Mauritian sugar industry must reinvent itself to survive.

In mid-November, the Agricultural Chamber revised its forecasts for the 2025 harvest downwards. The conclusion is clear: the Mauritian sugar industry, a historic agricultural activity in the country, is sliding into unknown depths. While there is consensus on the need to preserve this sector, the challenges for its revival are considerable.

The Mauritian sugar industry has gradually transformed. Originally focused on producing brown sugar for British refineries, it has shifted towards value-added products, including specialty sugars. Bagasse, a byproduct of sugarcane, constitutes a significant renewable energy source, while the thermal power plants at sugar factories provide nearly uninterrupted electricity supply across the country. However, this transformation has not prevented statistics from showing a relentless decline in the cane sector.

As the 2025 sugar campaign nears its end, the latest figures indicate a breathless finish. Production has been revised from an initial estimate of 220,000 tons down to 215,000 tons, representing a 4.9% decrease compared to 2024. This marks a new low in a long-standing trend: over the past fifteen years, sugar production has fallen by 50%. From 452,473 tons in 2010, it has plummeted to 225,347 tons in 2024. Between 2019, the year before the pandemic, and 2021, the year of recovery, the tonnage dropped by 23%. This decline has continued, influenced by changing conditions and climate change.

On November 10, the Crop Estimate Coordinating Committee analyzed the progress of the campaign. Their findings reveal the difficulties the industry faces: maintenance work on the water distribution network in the North, coupled with significant breakdowns at the Terra and Omnicane thermal power plants, have significantly impacted the operations of these sugar factories. Everyone is now focused on ensuring that the campaign wraps up by the end of the year under the best possible conditions, even though external factors such as weather conditions, the proper functioning of thermal power plants, and logistics can still disrupt the process.

Structural Issues

Behind these cyclical difficulties, structural problems are accumulating. The area under sugarcane cultivation has decreased by about 10,000 hectares between 2019 and 2024, a decline attributed to the abandonment of land by small and medium-sized growers. These growers struggle with the unavailability and high cost of labor, a lack of succession, and insufficient water, especially for irrigating the Northern plains. Mechanization of land and the adoption of better agricultural practices have helped stabilize, to some extent, the yield per hectare and thus the tonnage of sugar per hectare, but this is insufficient to halt the decline.

Statistics from the Agricultural Chamber for the week of November 19 also illustrate a growing concentration of production. The three factories, Terra, Omnicane, and Alteo - Union Flacq crushed approximately 1.7 million tons of cane to produce 161,384 tons of sugar. From this production, the properties claim the lion's share: 125,804 tons, or 78% of the total, with the remainder going to small and medium growers.

In light of this situation, the Minister of Agro-Industry, Arvind Boolell, who has been familiar with the sector since the 1990s, believes a reengineering is essential. In an interview at the start of his term, he stated: "We are revising all incentive measures to support sugar growers and turn sugar into a genuine industry. It is essential to stimulate production. A more rewarding price is being considered, with increased valuation of sugar and its byproducts."

In the meantime, the message to growers remains crystal clear: do not underestimate the importance of delivering clean and high-quality cane to the factory, as this guarantees better sugar yields, reduces losses during extraction, and improves the performance of industrial equipment. Each grower is urged to ensure proper cutting, transportation, and timely delivery of cane that meets the required quality standards. This is a short-term requirement in the face of a long-term challenge.