India's sugar export corporation ISEC is not selling raw sugar at current prices despite a jump in March 2008 futures above 10.0 cents per lb., its chief executive SL Jain said on Tuesday. "I am not selling now. We are not selling anything immediately," Jain told Reuters. "I can see the market going up still further. I want to maximise my sale price."
Jain said last on Thursday he would not sell if March 2008 futures remained below 10 cents a lb. Raw sugar futures settled at a two-week high on Monday on sustained speculative and trade buying linked to a number of factors. March 2008 futures finished at 10.04 cents, up 0.55 cent, having stood below 10 cents last week.
Dubai's al-Khaleej refinery has confirmed it bought more than 200,000 tonnes of Indian raw sugar for shipment later this year and into next year, its first purchase of Indian raw sugar, muscling out competition from Brazil. Jain has said the raw sugar sold to Dubai, for shipment between December 2007 and March 2008, totalled 235,000 tonnes.