Raw sugar prices rise, focus remains on India exports


FE Team | Published: September 20, 2018 20:20:30


Raw sugar prices rise, focus remains on India exports

Raw sugar futures rose on Thursday boosted partly by indications that exports from India may take place slightly later than had been expected while coffee and cocoa prices were also higher, reports Reuters.

October raw sugar was up 0.21 cent, or 1.95 per cent, at 10.97 cents per lb at 1125 GMT.

India will consider various proposals to support the sugar industry, including incentives for exports, at next week's cabinet meeting. The proposals were supposed to be discussed on Wednesday.

"The market has been reacting to both strength in the Brazilian real and news that the meeting on Indian exports of five million tonnes bore no fruit yesterday," said Darren Stetzel, commodity broker at INTL FCStone in Singapore.

"While there will be some fluctuation in price from now until next Wednesday, in the next fortnight we anticipate further downside from current levels, with a potential testing of 10 cents per lb," Stetzel added.

Dealers also noted October's discount to March had been narrowing ahead of the former contract's expiry later this month with talk that funds may be rolling forward short positions.

December white sugar was up $1.30, or 0.4 per cent, at $331.50 a tonne.

December arabica coffee was up 0.55 cent, or 0.6 per cent, at 97.25 cents per lb.

Prices have regained some ground after falling to their lowest since December 2005 on Tuesday but ample supplies following a record crop in Brazil this year should limit the upside potential.

November robusta coffee rose $10, or 0.7 per cent, to $1,497 a tonne.

Coffee demand picked up slightly in Vietnam this week as buyers switched destination, after supplies dropped in Asian rival Indonesia at the end of harvest, traders said on Thursday.

December New York cocoa was up $21, or 1.0 per cent, at $2,216 a tonne, recouping some of the prior session's losses.

December London cocoa rose 5 pounds, or 0.3 per cent, to 1,571 pounds a tonne.

Ghana's cocoa industry regulator Cocobod signed a $1.3 billion loan with international banks on Thursday to fund purchases for the 2018/19 season, due to open early next month, it said.

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