Sugar recovers from last week’s drop

By Onome Amuge

Raw sugar futures moved into bullish territory on the Intercontinental Exchange, as prices recovered from last week’s losses, but still some way off late April’s 11-year peak because the market has already priced in tight supplies, dealers say.

Following Tuesday’s trading activities,  July raw sugar was up  0.8 per cent to 26.30 cents per pound, having lost 2.5 per cent a week prior.

Market dealers said they do not expect the sweetener  to breach its 11-year peak of 27.41 cents in the near term, with the market having absorbed lower Indian and Thai production and the slow start to the harvest in top producer Brazil. They also expect prices to trade no higher than 26.50 cents but don’t see them falling below 25 cents, citing logistical problems hampering exports from Brazil.

In a similar trajectory, July arabica coffee gained 0.7 per cent  to $1.8515 per pound, having hit a 3-1/2-week low last week on demand concerns.

Market data showed that prices in the physical markets are easing across all arabica origins. Dealers, however, cautioned that arabica could slip to about $1.75 this week if the $1.80 to $1.85 technical threshold is broken.

They noted that the arabica harvest in top producer Brazil is about 20 per cent  complete, buoyed by dry weather conditions.

On the other hand,July robusta coffee was down  0.2 per cent to $2,466 a tonne, having gained 2.6 per cent  last week despite hitting a 12-year high in late April.

Data showed that Coffee exports from top robusta producer Vietnam reached 716,580 tonnes over the January-April period, down 5.5 per cent year on year. Dealers also observed that April rains in No. 2 robusta producer Brazil have delayed the robusta crop harvest.

Meanwhile, cocoa prices were mixed across the Atlantic as rJuly New York cocoa was little changed at $2,955 a tonne, while July London cocoa climbed 0.6 per cent to 2,230 pounds per tonne.

Data showed that main-crop cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast since the start of the season on Oct. 1 had reached 1.945 mln tonnes by May 7, down 6.6 per cent from the same period last season.