Sugar declined for a second day in London on speculation producers in Thailand, the world’s second- biggest shipper, are re-melting more raw sugar into the white variety to meet demand for Ramadan. Coffee retreated. The premium white sugar commands over the raw variety fell 12 percent over the past week, exchange data compiled by Bloomberg showed. Sugar production in Thailand is running at 4,000 to 6,000 metric tons a day as mills continue to re-melt raw sugar into the white, or refined variety, F.O. Licht GmbH said in a report on May 2. Thai producers have been “blamed for knocking down the white premium,� Michael McDougall, head of the Brazil desk at broker Newedge Group in New York, said in a report yesterday. “There are some corners of the trade, it seems, who believe we will be ‘awash’ with whites, perhaps on an argument of Thai’s deliverable availability, recent high whites premium, early Ramadan,� Thomas Kujawa, co-head of soft commodities Sucden Financial Ltd. in London, wrote in a report e-mailed yesterday. White, or refined, sugar for delivery in August fell 0.7 percent to $490.40 a ton by 10:29 a.m. on NYSE Liffe in London. The price fell 0.6 percent yesterday. Raw sugar for delivery in July slid 0.4 percent to 17.57 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Futures trading volumes were 38 percent below the average in the past 100 days for this time of day, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. Muslim nations usually stock up on sugar before the fasting month of Ramadan, which begins in July. While people fast during daylight hours, sweet treats are common at night. Thailand Forecast Sugar output in Thailand will surpass a previous forecast and near a record after farmers increased cane planting, according to the Office of the Cane and Sugar Board. Production may total 10.1 million tons in the crushing season that started Nov. 15, Somsak Suwattiga, secretary general at the board, said last week. That compares with 9 million tons estimated on Feb. 8, and the record 10.2 million tons in 2011-12. Robusta coffee futures for July delivery slid 0.4 percent to $2,002 a ton on NYSE Liffe. Arabica coffee futures for July delivery were 0.5 percent lower at $1.4195 a pound on ICE. Vietnam’s Central Highlands coffee-growing areas will get more rain this week, MDA Information Systems LLC in Gaithersburg, Maryland, said in a report e-mailed yesterday. Rainfall will range from 0.5 inch to 2 inches and “should maintain more favorable soil moisture,� it said. Vietnam is the world’s largest producer of the robusta variety. Cocoa for July delivery fell 0.1 percent to 1,568 pounds ($2,428) a ton in London. Cocoa for July delivery slipped 0.1 percent to $2,393 a ton in New York. To contact the reporter on this story: Isis Almeida in London at Ialmeida3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at Ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.

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