(Bloomberg) – Sugar fell in New York after the commodity failed to rally even as speculators closed out bets on lower prices. Cocoa advanced.
While investors cut wagers on lower sugar prices by 26 percent in the week to April 16, prices gained 0.8 percent in the period. Bets on falling prices reached a record in the previous seven-day period, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data compiled by Bloomberg show. While funds bought futures, traders sold, Michael McDougall, head of the Brazil desk at Newedge Group in New York, said by e-mail April 19.
It “was a surprise to see the funds cover so much of their gross short with very little fanfare,” McDougall said. “In the end, the market rallied all of 15 points.”
Raw sugar for July delivery slid 1.5 percent to 17.62 cents a pound by 5:54 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. White sugar for August delivery was down 0.7 percent to $505.10 a metric ton on NYSE Liffe in London.
Large and small speculators excluding index funds reduced their net-short position in raw sugar by 30,535 contracts to 85,146 lots, data from the Washington-based commission showed. The new position of funds is “easing some of the technical short-covering tension in the market,” James Kirkup, a broker at ABN Amro Markets U.K. Ltd., said by e-mail today.
Raw sugar for May delivery was 0.13 cent a pound more expensive than the futures for July. That is down from a premium of 0.24 cent a pound a week ago. The May futures expire on April 30 and the exchange will announce the delivery the next day.
Port Strikes
“The May expiry is only eight days away, with speculation centered on whether center south Brazils will be delivered,”Tom McNeill, a director at Brisbane, Australia-based researcher Green Pool Commodity Specialists Pty, said in a report e-mailed today, referring to sugar from the biggest growing region in top producer Brazil. “That seems risky for all parties given low volumes produced and port strikes, aside from weather.”
Cocoa futures for July delivery rose 0.2 percent to $2,338 a ton on ICE. Futures for the same month were 0.1 percent higher at 1,557 pounds ($2,372) a ton on NYSE Liffe, and earlier today rose 0.4 percent to 1,561 pounds, the highest price for a most-active contract since Dec. 5.
Arabica-coffee futures for delivery in July slid 0.3 percent to $1.428 a pound in New York. Robusta-coffee futures for delivery in July gained 0.1 percent to $2,093 a ton in London.
