Five-Month High on Import Demand: Sugar and Cocoa also rises

Sugar extended gains, climbing to a five-month high, on speculation that countries including Indonesia, Russia and Pakistan will import more sweetener as adverse weather curbs production. Cocoa also rose.

Sugar importers in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest buyer, may miss a target due to heavy rains, the government said Aug. 19. Russia’s production may be 20 percent smaller than forecast because of drought, and Pakistan said it may start buying the sweetener by December to make up for crop losses due to flooding.

“Supply conditions remain tight,” said Bruno Zaneti, a risk-management consultant at FCStone Group in Campinas, Brazil. “Also, funds are actively buying.”

Raw sugar for October delivery rose 0.12 cent, or 0.6 percent, to settle at 20.07 cents a pound at 2 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Earlier, it touched 20.14 cents, the highest price for a most-active contract since March 10.

Refined-sugar futures for October delivery gained $2.40, or 0.4 percent, to $577.80 a metric ton on NYSE Liffe in London. The gain was the eighth straight, the longest rally since June 16.

“We have very low stocks of sugar around the world, and we have a number of weather problems that are threatening to affect production,” said Jonathan Kingsman, the managing director of Kingsman SA, a researcher and broker in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators increased their net-long positions in sugar futures in New York by 6.6 percent in the week ended Aug. 17 from a week earlier, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.

Cocoa futures for December delivery rose $7, or 0.2 percent, to close at $2,834 a metric ton at 12:03 p.m. in New York.

In London, cocoa futures for September delivery gained 29 pounds, or 1.4 percent, to 2,090 pounds ($3,247) a ton, rising for the first time in seven sessions.
Source: http://bit.ly/9NJdDu