Sugar drops to three-week low
Sunday, 25 April 2010
NEW DELHI, April 23 (Bloomberg): Sugar slid to a three-week low in New York on forecasts for favorable weather in India, the world's second-biggest producer.
Rains from June to September may be 98 per cent of the 50- year average, the India Meteorological Department, said today. Sugar prices more than doubled last year as excess precipitation in Brazil, the leading producer, and a weak monsoon in India, the top consumer, curbed output.
"Normal rains in India are not good for sugar prices," said Ricardo Scaff, a commodity trader at Rabobank Nederland from London. "The fundamentals are weak."
Raw sugar for July delivery fell 0.39 cent, or 2.4 per cent, to 15.75 cents a pound on ICE Futures US Earlier, the price touched 15.55 cents, the lowest level since April 1. The commodity dropped 2.7 per cent this week and is down 42 per cent in 2010.
White-sugar futures for August delivery dropped $5.30, or 1.1 per cent, to $481.80 a metric ton on the Liffe exchange in London, the fourth consecutive drop.
Imports by Russia next month may not be as high as forecast, Scaff said. The duty on shipments will probably be $120 a ton, compared with an initial indication of $50, Customs Union Commission data showed.
Russia may purchase at least 1 million tons in May, the International Sugar Organization said this month.
Meanwhile: The US boosted its import quota for raw sugar by 16 per cent in an attempt to ease a supply shortage that pushed retail prices to a record.
An additional 200,000 short tons (181,437 metric tons) will be added to the tariff-rate quota for the year that ends Sept. 30, the Department of Agriculture said today in a statement on its Web site. The original quota, set on Sept. 25, was at 1.23 million, the minimum amount the US has committed to import under a World Trade Organization agreement.
In March, retail prices reached an all-time high, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. On ICE Futures US in New York, contracts for raw sugar, used mainly by domestic refiners and industrial consumers to hedge supply risks, are about 14 cents a pound above global prices. That's close to the biggest premium since at least September 2008, Bloomberg data show.
Rains from June to September may be 98 per cent of the 50- year average, the India Meteorological Department, said today. Sugar prices more than doubled last year as excess precipitation in Brazil, the leading producer, and a weak monsoon in India, the top consumer, curbed output.
"Normal rains in India are not good for sugar prices," said Ricardo Scaff, a commodity trader at Rabobank Nederland from London. "The fundamentals are weak."
Raw sugar for July delivery fell 0.39 cent, or 2.4 per cent, to 15.75 cents a pound on ICE Futures US Earlier, the price touched 15.55 cents, the lowest level since April 1. The commodity dropped 2.7 per cent this week and is down 42 per cent in 2010.
White-sugar futures for August delivery dropped $5.30, or 1.1 per cent, to $481.80 a metric ton on the Liffe exchange in London, the fourth consecutive drop.
Imports by Russia next month may not be as high as forecast, Scaff said. The duty on shipments will probably be $120 a ton, compared with an initial indication of $50, Customs Union Commission data showed.
Russia may purchase at least 1 million tons in May, the International Sugar Organization said this month.
Meanwhile: The US boosted its import quota for raw sugar by 16 per cent in an attempt to ease a supply shortage that pushed retail prices to a record.
An additional 200,000 short tons (181,437 metric tons) will be added to the tariff-rate quota for the year that ends Sept. 30, the Department of Agriculture said today in a statement on its Web site. The original quota, set on Sept. 25, was at 1.23 million, the minimum amount the US has committed to import under a World Trade Organization agreement.
In March, retail prices reached an all-time high, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. On ICE Futures US in New York, contracts for raw sugar, used mainly by domestic refiners and industrial consumers to hedge supply risks, are about 14 cents a pound above global prices. That's close to the biggest premium since at least September 2008, Bloomberg data show.