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06/04/10 – White sugar rose the most in a week in London on speculation that importers will increase stockpiles to ensure supplies.
Pakistan, Asia´s third-largest user, invited bids to import 200,000 metric tons of white sugar. A global supply surplus of 190,000 tons in the current quarter won´t make up for a shortfall of 8.8 million tons in the prior six months, Fortis Bank Nederland and researcher VM Group said in March.
“By the third quarter, the balance wouldn´t have improved in Asia, so buying in the second and third quarters could be quite a big presence,” Gary Mead, a London-based analyst with VM, said by phone today.
White, or refined, sugar for August delivery advanced $10.40, or 2.3 percent, to $463.60 a ton, the most since March 30, on the Liffe exchange. May-delivery sugar is $25.40 more expensive than the August contract, indicating concern about immediate supply.
Raw sugar for May delivery was unchanged at 16.40 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, paring an advance of as much as 1.6 percent.
India´s government asked mills to sell the sweetener on a fortnightly basis this month, switching from weekly sales, Vinay Kumar, managing director of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd., said in an interview today. The government controls the sugar market by telling mills how much they should sell each month.
Flooding in China is a concern with widespread harvest delays likely, weather forecaster AccuWeather Inc. said in a report today. Outbreaks of rain from the Yangtze River on south through tomorrow will total 0.5 to 2 inches with locally higher amounts, the report said. |
