Tongaat Hulett Açucareira de Xinavane and Tongaat Hulett Açucareira de Moçambique announced on Thursday that they are liberalising sugar sales, allowing any interested buyer to purchase the commodity directly from their factories, in compliance with a ruling by Mozambique’s Competition Regulatory Authority (ARC).
The measure stems from ARC Ruling No. 5/2025, dated 13 November 2025, under which the regulator ordered the dissolution of DNA – Distribuidora Nacional de Açúcar – after concluding that the company had engaged in anticompetitive practices in Mozambique’s sugar market.
In a joint statement, the two producers explained that DNA’s dissolution and liquidation process will be carried out in phases through to 31 December 2027. During this transitional period, the shareholder companies of the distributor are now free to sell sugar directly or through third parties, enabling traders, companies, and consumers to purchase the product directly from the factories without having to go through DNA.
According to Tongaat Hulett, DNA will continue to carry out, on a limited basis, only the operational activities strictly necessary for the transition, while each producer implements its own distribution channels. The Tongaat Hulett mills thus become the latest domestic producers to adopt direct sugar sales. In May, Companhia de Sena had already announced a similar measure, also in compliance with the ARC decision.
The regulator’s intervention follows an investigation launched in 2022 to examine potential violations of the Competition Law in the sugar sector. In its November 2025 ruling, the ARC imposed five fines on the companies involved, totalling 69.5 million meticais, and referred the case to the Attorney General’s Office.
The investigation found that DNA, established in 2002 and owned by Tongaat Hulett Açucareira de Moçambique, Tongaat Hulett Açucareira de Xinavane, Companhia de Sena, and Maragra Açúcar, had centralised the marketing of sugar produced by all four factories, as well as import, export, and storage operations.
According to the ARC, although these companies were competitors in the sugar production and marketing market, they acted in a coordinated manner through DNA, effectively eliminating competition among themselves. In its ruling, the regulator found that the distributor operated ‘as a cartel’ by standardising factory prices and eliminating competition based on supply and demand.
The ARC concluded that this model restricted market competition and constituted a serious violation of the Competition Law, which is why it ordered the company’s dissolution and the liberalisation of sugar marketing by the respective producers.
Source: Diário Económico
