Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Sugar Falls to 3-Month Low on India, Brazil Output; Coffee Drops

Sugar fell to the lowest in almost three months on signs that output is increasing in Brazil andIndia, the world’s largest producers. Coffee also dropped.

India is considering exporting 500,000 metric tons of sugar this week, the government said. Production in Brazil’s Center South will rise to 35.1 million tons this year from 33.5 million tons last year, research company Datagro said on Feb. 21. Bigger harvests may help fill a global shortfall that sent prices to a 30-year high this month.

“If the crops look better, sugar could head even lower,” said Fain Shaffer, the president of Infinity Trading Corp., a commodities brokerage in Medford, Oregon. “This is supportive news for the bears.”

Raw sugar for May delivery fell 1.02 cents, or 3.6 percent, to settle at 27.36 cents a pound at 2 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Earlier, prices dropped to 27 cents, the lowest since Nov. 24.

The commodity reached 36.08 cents on Feb. 2, the highest since November 1980.

In London, refined-sugar futures for May delivery fell $16.40, or 2.3 percent, to $702.60 a ton on NYSE Liffe.

India’s DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd. said its sugar production may jump 58 percent this season as crop yields improve.

Arabica-coffee futures for May delivery declined 4.9 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $2.6945 a pound on ICE, the first drop in five sessions.

In London, robusta-coffee futures for May delivery slumped $14, or 0.6 percent, to $2,368 a ton.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-23/sugar-tumbles-to-three-month-low-in-new-york-coffee-declines-cocoa-rises.html)

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