Daily Market Price Updates and Commentary 2nd May 2025

Raw Sugar Updates

Jul’25 saw choppy trading across the first thirty minutes as overnight hedge lifting and some consumer bargain hunting was seen as the price traded up to 17.28. Activity then calmed down however and with it there was a return to the recent trading pattern which has seen sellers in the ascendancy, leading the market to again move downward and explore into the support which rests ahead of 17.00. It was a prolonged process as assorted probing from the specs finally led Jul’25 to a 16c handle with lows at 16.97 early in the afternoon, though with no stops present and the buying continuation some decided that they had pushed far enough and turned to take cover. The rally extended up to 17.20 before faltering, the lack of depth to the buying leaving prices vulnerable to a return to the lows once cover had been taken. The market again slipped beneath 17c and came within a point of the earlier low, but this second failure to slide gave the market a minor boost and allowed the losses to be minimized through the final two hours. Prices remained lower heading into the call but a sharp rally on around 4,000 lots of volume arrived to send the price soaring to a new daily high of 17.29, and in the process ensuring a marginally higher settlement price at 17.20. This still leaves the chart vulnerable heading into the weekend and Mondays shortened session, though the only higher close of this week may provoke some questions as to whether an attempt can be made to build a bottom in this area.

White Sugar Updates

The market found some light hedge lifting through the early stages which enabled prices to trade a couple of dollars higher, however the buying soon faded away to leave prices falling back through overnight levels to resume the downside. The usual scale buying was in place to soften the impact of the selling, and with some reasonable interest placed ahead of last months $487.70 low mark the market refused to yield beyond an early afternoon $489.00 low mark. This in turn encouraged some shorts to seek cover, however the resultant rally was built on just their buying and so once fully concluded we saw a return to the bottom portion of the range. Despite sitting lower there was little impact upon the spreads, while Aug/Jul’25 was also holding quietly in the $114.00 area. The premium value fell sharply towards $110.00 during the final part of the day as the market came under pressure and recorded new lows, moving independently of No.11 to reach $488.10 though crucially still a smidgen above last months low. There was one final twist to follow on the close as pre-weekend position squaring sent the price up by $3, leaving Aug’25 to settle at $489.70 and await the outcome of Mondays No.11 session as the market enjoys a 3-day weekend.