Raw sugar futures gain as oil recovers, white sugar hits 4-1/2 month high
- Dealers said sugar would be underpinned so long as crude remains firm, with some talk it only needs to improve by $4-5 for ethanol to become competitive with gasoline in Brazil.
- August white sugar rose $0.60, or 0.2pc, to $365.20 a tonne, having hit its highest since early January, with an inverted futures market structure indicating supplies remain tight.
Coffee fell, however, and cocoa was mixed.
SUGAR
July raw sugar was up 0.09 cents, or 0.8pc, to 10.94 cents per lb at 1052 GMT??.
Dealers said sugar would be underpinned so long as crude remains firm, with some talk it only needs to improve by $4-5 for ethanol to become competitive with gasoline in Brazil.
Rising energy prices can prompt cane mills in Brazil to produce more cane-based ethanol fuel over sugar.
August white sugar rose $0.60, or 0.2pc, to $365.20 a tonne, having hit its highest since early January, with an inverted futures market structure indicating supplies remain tight.
The line of ships waiting to load sugar in Brazil has more than doubled, suggesting Brazil may set a new monthly sugar export record.
Egypt's has 2 million tonnes of sugar in its strategic reserves, sufficient for more than five months of consumption.
COFFEE
July arabica coffee fell 0.9 cents, or 0.8pc, to $1.0620 per lb?.
Coffee maker JDE Peet's BV is pressing ahead with plans to list on Euronext Amsterdam, in what will be a test of investor sentiment towards coffee.
Some traders are worried about weakening arabica demand, with signs at-home coffee drinking has not compensated for the closure of coffee shops.
July robusta coffee fell $7, or 0.6pc, to $1,177 a tonne.
COCOA
July New York cocoa dipped $1, or 0.04pc, to $2,405 a tonne.
Rainfall was still below average in most of Ivory Coast's cocoa growing regions last week, but downpours have since arrived.
July London cocoa rose 10 pounds, or 0.5pc, to 1,979 pounds per tonne.