Saturday, 28 March 2015 01:16
NEW YORK/LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE extended losses and fell to the lowest in more than six years on Friday, weighed down by abundant supplies, while coffee also dropped along with the larger commodity complex Cocoa extended losses, with the New York market falling for the fourth straight week and London for the fifth as speculators fled.
Raw sugar fell to a session low of 12.10 cents a lb, the lowest since January 2009, pushed down by the falling Brazilian real currency and ample supplies and stocks.
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“The pipeline is already full, and there’s more sugar on the way.
The cash market is quiet,” a US trader said.
May raw sugar futures closed 0.21 cent, or 1.7 percent, lower at 12.13 cents a lb, closing the week down 4.3 percent. Tracey Allen, commodity analyst at Rabobank, said strength in the spot whites-over-raws sugar premium, trading above $ 95 per tonne, the highest since September 2014, was underpinned by steady cash white sugar demand.
In its latest monthly report, Rabobank cut its global 2014/15 sugar deficit forecast to 0.7 million tonnes from 1.8 million tonnes due to benign growing weather.
Producer selling in Brazil has recently weighed on raw sugar and arabica coffee prices due to the tumbling real, which was falling back toward last week’s 12-year low.
May white sugar ended down $ 3.20, or 0.9 percent, at $ 360 a tonne. Arabica coffee futures dipped in light dealings, pulled lower by the weak real.
Benchmark May arabica futures closed down 2.05 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $ 1.382 per lb, finishing the week down 3.6 percent. Total arabica futures open interest rose by 1,619 lots to 200,539 lots on Thursday, the highest since February 2008, exchange data showed. May robusta coffee ended down $ 28, or 1.5 percent, at $ 1,788 a tonne. Cocoa futures were down in heavy volume.
“The specs have been unwinding their positions,” said one US broker.
New York May cocoa closed down $ 10, or 0.4 percent, at $ 2,710 a tonne, finishing the week down 2.9 percent, the fourth straight week lower.
London May cocoa fell 19 pounds, or 1 percent, to finish at 1,921 pounds a tonne, ending the week down 1.2 percent, the fifth straight week of losses.
Copyright Reuters, 2015
