31/03/10 – Sugar futures fell for the first time in three days on a forecast for bigger cane yields in India, the world´s second-biggest grower. Orange juice declined.
The National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd. said today that India´s output may jump as much as 26 percent this year after beneficial rain in the largest growing regions. Raw-sugar prices in New York headed for the biggest quarterly drop since 1985 on prospects for higher global production.
“Good numbers from India are not helping matters,” said Michael McDougall, a senior vice president at Newedge USA, a broker in New York. “Sugar will remain muted.”
Raw sugar for May delivery fell 0.65 cent, or 3.6 percent, to 17.23 cents a pound at 9:35 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. The price climbed 5.2 percent in the past two sessions.
The commodity tumbled as much as 47 percent from a 29-year high of 30.4 cents on Feb. 1, as importers including India, Pakistan and Egypt withdrew from the market. The slump isn´t over because Brazil, the leading producer, and India, the top consumer, will harvest bumper crops next season, analysts and trader said.
Sugar more than doubled last year as adverse weather reduced cane crops. | 