A slow start to the session saw Oct’22 edging along little changed through the first couple of hours until the continuing lack of progress following Friday’s rally seemed to encourage some light selling which sent the price edging sown into the 18.30’s. The movements were rather sedate and were by and large disregarding the wider commodity world where losses (particularly in the energy sector) were piling up. There was little change to the picture as the US-day got underway against a backdrop of continuing low volume, and this prompted a small rally back above 18.40 as day traders possibly drew some confidence from the relative stability. Whatever the reason the confidence soon faded as the market slipped back toward the lows with the rest of the afternoon seeing the price erase to a succession of new daily lows culminating at 18.06. MOC position squaring left settlement at 18.10, and this most recent failure to sustain a rally leave the market seemingly set to continue the recent pattern of investigating quietly either side for 18.00 for a while longer.
White sugar resumed following the extended holiday weekend with some aggressive selling (and a lack of resting buying) contributing to a sharp decline which saw more than $6 lost over the first 15 minutes. This impacted significantly upon the nearby white premiums which were trading a few dollars beneath Friday’s levels, and while activity then calmed somewhat the lower volumes still led the market in a downward bias with the losses extending over the following hours as Oct’22 moved towards $550.00. With just 12 more sessions remaining before Oct’22 whites expire there was a good deal of volume trading for the spreads, and in keeping with the lower market the Oct/Dec’22 moved back in to a narrowest $26.80 intra-day, continuing to the lower end through until the close. Similarly, the flat price saw no means of recover with buyers remaining reluctant in the face of wider commodity sector weakness and by the close Oct’22 had fallen to a low at $548.00 to post a range just 0.30c bigger than that seen Friday as that day’s gains were erased. Settlement at $548.50 leave us to the centre of the recent range with the near term likely to remain quiet except for expiry movements.