Having somewhat reluctantly followed the white’s market higher over recent sessions we saw No.11 values moving more aggressively ahead during today’s session, working through the former contract high within the first hour and continuing to push steadily upward. Producers continue to price only on moderate scales which was aiding the movement, and with both trade and spec buyers present the move became relentless with May’23 reaching 21.87 ahead of the US morning. This drew an additional buying flurry which took the price to the significant 22.00 level, not just as a psychological target but more so as it closed the continuation gap following the March’23 expiry (22.00 being the March’23 low on 28th February). The buying was also enabling the nearby spreads to reverse yesterdays losses and May/Jul’23 touched a widest 0.53 points on the move before easing back to the mid 0.40’s during the afternoon as another decent volume changed hands. There was some profit taking that saw the price touch back to 21.73 however buyers were proving resilient, and the picture levelled out in the upper 21.80’s through the late afternoon, placing sugar firmly at the top of the commodity board with mixed fortunes being seen across the macro. Having flatlined for a couple of hours there was some MOC buying placed to ensure that such a strong performance ended in the most positive way achievable, with May’23 settling at 21.96 to sit well poised for a potential challenge of the continuation high at 22.36 as we move into the final day of the quarter.
Leaping higher on the opening the market started to move at an ever-increasing pace northward, the recent progress paling in comparison as May’23 extended to $628.00 by mid-morning. The movement came primarily through the flat price as spreads widened by more reasonable levels, May/Aug’23 moving beyond $15.00 but still not showing any sign of returning to recent highs despite the meteoric rise in the flat price. A brief pause soon gave way to another push higher, and with producer selling still limited the spec and trade buyers who are keen to maximise the current technical strength gave the market an additional lift which ran all the way to $634.80 early in the afternoon, a massive $16.40 gain. White premiums were again firm on the movement with daily highs seen for May/May’23 around $152.50 and Aug/Jul’23 towards $148.00, though here there was still limited selling with many refiners having priced previously into the rally. After such monumental progress it was inevitable that there would be some cooling and the market eased back to sit ahead of $630.00, though impressively there was no sign of any aggressive washout of longs which may have instigated a larger retracement. Despite a late push for the No.11 there was no such move for the whites, leading premium values to fall further back from their highs at the end as May’23 settled at a still mighty $630.70. This was the first time in awhile that whites have not been the constant driving force, though given the sheer scale of recent gains and overbought nature of the market it should not be surprising that the buyers are becoming more reticent, though as we head to month end tomorrow there will likely still be interest to keep things firm.
