Sugar Drops as U.S. Buying Plan Seen Failing to Curb World Glut

(Businessweek) – Raw-sugar futures slid from a five-week high on speculation that a U.S. plan to purchase surplus supplies of domestic sweetener will do little to end a global glut. Arabica coffee rose.

Global production will exceed consumption by 10 million metric tons in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, the London-based International Sugar Organization said May 22. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday it will spend $38 million to reduce a domestic glut by 300,000 short tons (272,155 metric tons). Sugar futures through yesterday were down 2.3 percent since the end of March, heading for a fifth straight quarterly decline.

“I don’t see too much bullish information on sugar, and we’re going to have a global surplus,” Michael Smith, the president of T&K Futures & Options in Port St. Lucie, Florida, said in a telephone interview. “This downturn doesn’t have anything to stop it yet.”

Raw sugar for delivery in October fell 1.1 percent to 17.06 cents a pound at 11:21 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, heading for the biggest drop for a most-active contract since May 22. Smith said sugar will reach 14 cents by year end.

Yesterday, the price reached 17.3 cents, the highest since May 13, after the USDA announced its plans to buy domestic sugar.

Arabica-coffee futures rose 0.2 percent to $1.2345 a pound, heading for the first gain in three sessions.