Sugar Drops as Importers Delay Purchases Amid Increasing Output

Sugar prices fell the most this week in New York as importers postponed purchases amid signs that production will increase.

Egypt canceled a plan to buy 50,000 metric tons, and another tender won’t be issued for at least two weeks. An industry group in Uttar Pradesh, India’s biggest state grower, said output may surge 35 percent in the year beginning Oct. 1.

“Some buyers are delaying purchases,” said Bruno Lima, a risk-management consultant at FCStone in Campinas, Brazil. “Also, news of higher production in India will keep prices muted.”

Raw sugar for July delivery declined 0.55 cent, or 3.3 percent, to 16.14 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S., the biggest decline since April 16. Earlier, the price fell to 16.1 cents, the lowest level for a most-active contract since April 8. Sugar has dropped 40 percent this year.

White-sugar futures for August delivery fell $1.90, or 0.4 percent, to $487.10 a ton on the Liffe exchange in London, the third straight decline.

Prices more than doubled last year as excess rain in Brazil, the world’s leading producer, and a weak monsoon in India, the second-biggest grower and the top consumer, curbed output.

Debarati Roy
M. Shankar
Source: Bloomberg