LONDON: Raw sugar futures slumped to a five-year low on Wednesday with the potential for a substantial global surplus in the 2025/26 season weighing on prices.
Dealers said an expected rise in sugar output in India, the world’s second-largest producer, was adding to concerns over excess supplies, with forecasts for the size of an anticipated global surplus in the 2025/26 season beginning to increase.
Raw sugar futures were down 0.1% at 14.21 cents per lb by 1147 GMT after setting a five-year low of 14.05 cents.
The rise in production has been driven partly by favourable monsoon rains this year, while there also appears to be less cane being diverted to produce ethanol than many had anticipated.
“We now think that India will produce more sugar in 2025/26 at 32.8 million tons, due to less sucrose being diverted to ethanol,” broker Czarnikow said in a note.
India produced about 26.1 million metric tons in 2024/25.
Czarnikow raised its forecast for the 2025/26 global sugar surplus by 1.2 million tons to 8.7 million tons.
White sugar rose 0.4% to $415.10 a ton.
Cocoa futures eased, weighed by continuing concerns about weak demand following last year’s surge in prices.
Barry Callebaut said on Wednesday that it expected a mid single-digit percentage decline in sales of cocoa products in its upcoming financial year, as it continues to face pressure from high cocoa prices.
New York cocoa fell 0.1% to $6,594 a ton, while London cocoa was 0.25% lower at 4,837 pounds per ton.
Robusta coffee rose 0.2% to $4,689 a ton with the market keeping a close watch on the progress of typhoon Kalmaegi which could bring more rain to Vietnam’s coffee regions, slowing the harvest and potentially leading to quality issues.
Arabica coffee gained 0.7% to $4.08 per lb
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