Sugar outlook is 'positive'
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
SINGAPORE, May 31 (Bloomberg): Raw-sugar prices, which slumped by more than half after reaching the highest level since 1981, may gain as stockpiles are rebuilt and ethanol demand increases, according to Queensland Sugar Ltd. Chairman Alan Winney.
"It looks pretty positive," Winney said in an interview with Bloomberg Television from Singapore. "World stocks are at 20-year-low levels. We're starting to see a few problems in some of the exporting countries-Thailand civil unrest, South Africa a little bit lower exports than normal-and you are really starting to see a refocus on the ethanol picture."
Global sugar stockpiles will drop to 52.8 million metric tons, or 32 per cent of total consumption, in the year to Sept. 30, the lowest ratio in 20 years, according to International Sugar Organization data. Queensland Sugar ships more than 90 per cent of Australia's raw sugar.
"It's been a really interesting 12 or 18 months in the sugar industry, big price rises in 2009 and a retracement in 2010," Winney said today. "The world still does need to rebuild stocks," he said.
Raw sugar for July delivery dropped 4.9 per cent to 14.19 cents a pound on ICE Futures US in New York when last traded on May 28. The commodity reached 30.4 cents on Feb. 1, the highest level since Jan. 15, 1981.
Global sugar supplies are forecast to turn to a surplus in the year from October, after two years of deficits, as output rises in nations including Brazil and India, according to the International Sugar Organization.
India, the world's sugar buyer, may become a net exporter next year as output is likely to exceed demand for the first time in three years, the nation's farm minister Sharad Pawar said on May 3.
"It looks pretty positive," Winney said in an interview with Bloomberg Television from Singapore. "World stocks are at 20-year-low levels. We're starting to see a few problems in some of the exporting countries-Thailand civil unrest, South Africa a little bit lower exports than normal-and you are really starting to see a refocus on the ethanol picture."
Global sugar stockpiles will drop to 52.8 million metric tons, or 32 per cent of total consumption, in the year to Sept. 30, the lowest ratio in 20 years, according to International Sugar Organization data. Queensland Sugar ships more than 90 per cent of Australia's raw sugar.
"It's been a really interesting 12 or 18 months in the sugar industry, big price rises in 2009 and a retracement in 2010," Winney said today. "The world still does need to rebuild stocks," he said.
Raw sugar for July delivery dropped 4.9 per cent to 14.19 cents a pound on ICE Futures US in New York when last traded on May 28. The commodity reached 30.4 cents on Feb. 1, the highest level since Jan. 15, 1981.
Global sugar supplies are forecast to turn to a surplus in the year from October, after two years of deficits, as output rises in nations including Brazil and India, according to the International Sugar Organization.
India, the world's sugar buyer, may become a net exporter next year as output is likely to exceed demand for the first time in three years, the nation's farm minister Sharad Pawar said on May 3.