White Sugar Advances as Harvests From Thailand to India Ending

(Businessweek) – White sugar climbed for a third day, sending the premium over raw sugar to a four-week high, as the end of harvests in Thailand to India will curb supplies.

The premium for white, or refined, sugar over raw sugar climbed to $119.42 a metric ton today, the highest since June 27. First notice of delivery from the October futures contract for the white sugar is Sept. 16.

“The only supply for the October delivery will be Brazil,” said Naim Beydoun, a broker at Swiss Sugar Broker in Rolle, Switzerland, by phone today. “It may be one or more trade houses are positioning for this on the long side.”

White sugar for October delivery climbed 0.6 percent to $482.50 a ton by 12:09 p.m. on NYSE Liffe in London. Raw sugar for October delivery gained 0.2 percent to 16.50 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York.

Frost last week in Argentina’s Tucuman, the country’s largest cane-producing state, caused damage, Green Pool Commodity Speciality Pty in Brisbane, Australia, said in a report dated today. Temperatures were minus 2 Celsius to minus 5 Celsius (28 to 23 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 22 and July 24, said Don Keeney, senior agriculture meteorologist at MDA Weather Services in Gaithersburg, Maryland. There is no rain forecast in sugar areas in Brazil the next 10 days, he said.

Cocoa fell 0.7 percent to $2,317 a ton on ICE and arabica coffee rose 0.3 percent to $1.2265 a pound.

Robusta fell 0.3 percent to $1,915 a ton on NYSE Liffe and cocoa dropped 0.5 percent to 1,560 pounds ($2,400) a ton.