Despite printing up to 20.08 on the opening exchanges the May’23 quickly slipped back beneath 20.00 with a gradual price decline then taking place across the rest of the morning. While this movement was consistent with a lack of buying as opposed to something more dynamic it also illustrated how the continuing lack of COT information for the market may be deterring any potential upside continuation at the current time. Moving into the afternoon there was a little more buying starting to emerge which at least acted to halt the decline, though with only limited outright activity taking place the market simply looked to consolidate either side of 19.80. Though the index roll is now drawing to a close there was again a good volume being seen for the spreads with March/May’23 ranging between 1.47 points and 1.66 points as the recent strength was maintained, while down the board there was also solid activity taking place for May/Jul’23 with side of 0.60 points. A further retreat during the later afternoon saw daily lows registered at 19.61 before jumping away against short covering, though when activity dropped once again the price remained only a small distance above session lows. A quiet call ensured that May’23 settled at 19.68 ahead of the usual late position squaring, ending a subdued session which suggests we may well see a longer period spent holding a similar range to last week.
There was some initial volatility this morning and when the market calmed it was trading a few dollars lower as a general lack of buying combined with some macro weakness to dictate the direction. New lows were recorded during the late morning before a period of consolidation developed, though with the May’23 price now either side of $560.00 it was becoming apparent that last week’s hard work to renew the upside was quickly being undone. After several hours of sideways trading there was an additional slip to new session lows with May’23 printing at $557.00 before attempting to dig back in, however the flat price was otherwise quiet as focus sat with the March’23 expiry. Here the final day was seeing some price volatility on low volumes with March/May’23 continuing at a premium with a daily range between $2.30 and $10.00, though the flat price sat lower in line with the wider board. The closing stages played out to the lower end of the range with May’23 settling at $559.00, while March’23 expired at $563.00 to leave the spread valued at $4.00. Tonight’s March’23 expiry has seen a total of 3,819 lots (190,950mt) tendered, will full details to be published by the exchange tomorrow morning. Please be aware that effective tomorrow, the ICE exchange is extending the white sugar ETD board by a further 6 prompt months, bringing the total on exchange to 14 positions. This will take the board to October 2025, matching the current length of the No.11 board.
