BLBG: Sugar Climbs in London, New York as Pakistan May Have Crop Loss
By Claudia Carpenter
Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Sugar climbed in London and New York on speculation crop damage from floods in Pakistan will spur demand for imported sweetener.
Pakistan’s deadliest floods destroyed 200,000 acres (80,937 hectares) of sugar cane, Mohammed Ibrahim Moghul, chairman of farmers group Agri Forum Pakistan, said today. Pakistan’s sugar production for 2010-11 starting in October is estimated at 3.77 million metric tons, below demand of 4.28 million tons, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts.
“If the cane fields are destroyed, there’s no time to replant and grow cane for the coming season,” said Sergey Gudoshnikov, an economist at the International Sugar Organization in London. “If Pakistan believes the sugar market is going to continue to go up, they may buy now.”
White, or refined, sugar for October delivery rose $3.70, or 0.7 percent, to $536.30 a ton at 10:43 a.m. on NYSE Liffe in London. Raw sugar for October delivery jumped 0.9 percent to 18.43 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York.
Cocoa for delivery in September rose 13 pounds, or 0.6 percent, to 2,119 pounds ($3,311) a ton in London, after earlier today trading down at 2,093 pounds, the lowest price for a most- active contract since Nov. 20.
Robusta coffee for November delivery climbed 0.9 percent to $1,750 a ton on NYSE Liffe, and arabica coffee for December delivery increased 1.1 percent to $1.742 a pound on ICE.
To contact the reporter on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.