Sugar jumped to the highest price in almost eight months in London on concern about potential limits on supplies from India, the world’s second-biggest producer, and Europe. Cane farmers in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest grower, will withhold supplies should mills fail to meet a minimum price requirement, a farm group said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture yesterday lowered its forecast for the European Union’s sugar-beet harvest. Price disputes in India “may lead to short-term supply disruptions and may also lead to speculative buying,” Carsten Fritsch, a Frankfurt-based analyst at Commerzbank AG, said by phone today. “There are positive supply risks in Europe as well.” White, or refined, sugar for December delivery gained $18.90, or 2.9 percent, to $668.70 a metric ton at 9:55 a.m. on NYSE Liffe. The contract touched $672, the highest price since Feb. 26. Raw sugar for March delivery climbed 0.63 cent, or 2.5 percent, to 25.79 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Prices reached 26.14 cents, the highest level since Feb. 22. The EU beet harvest will drop 12 percent to 14.5 million tons in the year that began Oct. 1, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said yesterday. Total sugar production will fall to 14.8 million tons, from 16.83 million tons a year earlier, it said. Sliding Dollar Prices also rose as the U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, headed for a fourth weekly loss in a row after yesterday slumping to the lowest level in more than eight months. A weaker U.S. currency makes dollar- priced commodities cheaper in terms of other monies. “The continued weakness of the dollar is certainly pushing prices higher,” Fritsch said. Robusta coffee for November delivery fell 1.6 percent to $1,595 a ton in London. In New York, arabica coffee for December delivery declined 0.8 percent to $1.721 a pound. Cocoa for December delivery was unchanged at 1,840 pounds ($2,918) a ton in London. December-delivery cocoa fell 0.3 percent to $2,732 a ton in New York. To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Kay in London at ckay5@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

Source