BS: Sugar Climbs in New York as India May Keep Exports From Market
By M. Shankar
July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Sugar rose in New York on speculation India, the world’s second-biggest grower, will keep supplies from the world market to meet domestic demand.
India’s output may exceed 25 million metric tons in the year starting Oct. 1, from the 18.7-million-ton estimate for the current crop year, M.N. Rao, deputy director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association, said in a phone interview today.
“It is too early to forecast India exporting on to the global market any domestic surplus with Indian stocks remaining at low levels,” Sudakshina Unnikrishnan, a London-based analyst at Barclays Capital, wrote in a note e-mailed today.
Raw sugar for October delivery rose 0.03 cent, or 0.2 percent, to 16.72 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. at 10:13 a.m. in New York. White, or refined, sugar for October delivery declined 0.3 percent to $500.60 a ton, paring an earlier drop of as much as 1.6 percent.
Output in Brazil’s Center South region, the world’s largest producing area, rose 31 percent in the first half of June, industry association Unica said July 5.
The Brazil and India numbers have “taken some of the bullish steam out of the market” in what has been a tight demand and supply situation, Doug Whitehead, an analyst with Rabobank International Ltd. in London, said by phone.
In New York, cocoa for September delivery advanced 0.7 percent to $2,988 on ICE. Cocoa for September delivery rose 0.5 percent to 2,406 pounds ($3,653) a ton on Liffe.
Arabica futures for September delivery gained 0.3 percent to $1.5805 a pound on ICE. Robusta coffee for September delivery was unchanged at $1,650 a ton.
Coffee exports from Uganda, Africa’s largest producer of coffee after Ethiopia, fell 14 percent to 2.75 million 60- kilogram (132-pound) bags in the fiscal year through June after a drought cut yields, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority said.
--With assistance from Pratik Parija in New Delhi and Fred Ojambo in Kampala. Editors: Claudia Carpenter, Dan Weeks
To contact the reporter on this story: M. Shankar in London at mshankar@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.
