Sugar Rises on Brazil Cane-Crop Concerns; Coffee, Cotton Advance
Category: Sugar
(Bloomberg) – Sugar rose for a second straight session on concern that freezing temperatures may threaten crops in growing areas of Brazil, the world’s top producer and exporter. Coffee, cotton, cocoa and orange juice also gained.
A cold front may push temperatures to between zero and 2 degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit) from Aug. 27 to Aug. 28 in the center of Mato Grosso do Sul, the southern most areas of Sao Paulo and parts of Parana, according to Marcio Custodio, the forecast operating-director at Sao Paulo-based Somar Meteorologia. Sugar prices fell 16 percent this year through Aug. 23 on signs of ample supplies.
“The cold weather in Brazil is lending a bit of support to sugar,” Sterling Smith, a futures specialist at Citigroup Inc. in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. Prices were also supported as the real rebounded, reducing incentives for exporters to sell commodities priced in the greenback, he said.
Raw sugar for October delivery advanced 0.5 percent to 16.56 cents a pound at 10:53 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The sweetener climbed 1.2 percent on Aug. 23.
Also in New York, arabica-coffee futures for December delivery increased 0.9 percent to $1.181 a pound.
Cotton futures for December delivery rose 0.9 percent to 84.82 cents a pound, heading for the first gain since Aug. 16.
Cocoa futures for December climbed 0.7 percent to $2,482 a metric ton. Orange-juice futures for November delivery added 0.6 percent to $1.3635 a pound.
London’s NYSE Liffe is closed today for a public holiday.
