Sugar prices end 2018 at lowest levels in a decade

NEW YORK, Jan 01 (Reuters): Sugar futures on ICE finished 2018 lower on Monday, with year-end settles for New York-based raw sugar and London-based white sugar at the lowest since 2008, as a global supply glut led to a second consecutive annual decline.

Spot raw sugar closed at 12.03 cts/lb, a 20.6 per cent decline year on year, while spot white sugar ended the year at $332.50/ton, a 15.8 per cent decline year on year.

Prices this year were pressured by plentiful global supplies, with market participants fixated on the prospect of rising output from India, which overtook Brazil as the world's top sugar producer.

India's approval of new export subsidies in September, which dealers worried would flood the global market, sent raw sugar prices to as low as 9.83 cents per lb, the weakest level since 2008.