Sugar Resumes Decline as Brazil’s Real Weakens; Coffee Slumps
Category: Sugar
(Bloomberg) – Sugar resumed its decline in New York on speculation further weakening of Brazil’s real will prompt the world’s biggest producer to boost sales. Coffee fell.
The real weakened 13 percent against the dollar since May 14, the most among 31 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg, and touched a 4 1/2-year low of 2.3275 per dollar yesterday. The currency is still 10 percent stronger than a measure of its historical value, raising the prospect of further losses.
“The advance in prices was halted by continued producer selling and also by the weakness of the real, which closed at a new low,” Nick Penney, a senior trader at Sucden Financial Ltd in London, said in a report e-mailed today.
Raw sugar for October delivery fell 0.3 percent to 17.20 cents a pound by 7:09 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. White sugar for delivery in October gained 0.1 percent to $505 a metric ton on NYSE Liffe in London.
The amount of sugar waiting to be loaded at ports in Brazil rose 7.7 percent in the week ended yesterday, data from Williams Servicos Maritimos Ltda. showed. The total at the country’s main ports was 1.65 million tons, data from the Recife, Brazil-based shipping agency e-mailed yesterday showed. That’s up from 1.53 million tons a week earlier.
Sugar rose in the past four weeks on speculation rain and frost in Brazil’s center south, the main producing region, will cut output this year. If prices reach 17.30 cents a pound, it could trigger more buying, Penney said.
Cocoa for December delivery fell 0.1 percent to $2,493 a ton on ICE. Cocoa for December delivery was down 0.1 percent to 1,653 pounds ($2,575) a ton on NYSE Liffe.
Arabica coffee for December delivery fell 0.4 percent to $1.248 a pound in New York. Robusta coffee for delivery in November declined 0.3 percent to $1,919 a ton in London.
