BLBG: Sugar Extends Drop in London on Speculation Gains Were Overdone
By M. Shankar
June 18 (Bloomberg) -- White sugar fell for a second day in London on speculation a 10-day rally left prices no longer reflecting the outlook for supply and demand.
Recent price gains in the sweetener, which is headed for its third weekly drop in four weeks, were partly on speculation that demand from importers will stay buoyant. Two years of shortfalls cut stockpiles by 27 million metric tons, London- based broker Czarnikow Group Ltd. said in a report this month.
White, or refined, sugar for August delivery fell $5.30, or 1 percent, to $515 a ton on the Liffe exchange at 9:50 a.m. A close at that price would translate into a 1.7 percent drop for the week.
Raw sugar for October delivery was unchanged from yesterday, when it fell 2.8 percent to 15.60 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York.
“We will be in a consolidation pattern with more correction ahead,” Naim Beydoun of Rolle, Switzerland-based Swiss Sugar Brokers, wrote in a report e-mailed today.
Cocoa for July delivery rose 11 pounds, or 0.5 percent, to 2,429 pounds ($3,610) a ton on the Liffe exchange. Robusta coffee for September delivery declined $20, or 1.3 percent, to $1,531 a ton on Liffe.
To contact the reporter on this story: M. Shankar in London at mshankar@bloomberg.net
