There was buying around this morning which enabled the market to begin on the front foot, putting yesterdays lacklustre showing behind us with the market moving up to be just 10 points shy of the contract highs by mid-morning. Unlike recent efforts there was no let up in the energy from the buyers as they continued to push, and by late morning we had seen 20.65 removed with the market working into the low 20.80’s before pausing. Sentiment emerging from the Dubai conference this week has been positive (as always) with the view that while Brazil’s crop id looking good for this year it will need to be to fulfil the market needs, while that in turn is also fuelling the technicians who look for the market to fill the continuation gap. Whatever the motivation it was putting sugar clear at the top of the commodity macro today, as aided by a lack of significant producer selling the market was able to consolidate at the upper end of the range through into the afternoon. With COT data still lacking despite the ION issues having seemingly been resolved, it is hard to gauge the exact position currently, though it is fair to say that the funds/specs continue to carry a sizable long which they were adding to today alongside some trade buying also. With 21c acting as a magnet for the specs we saw another aggressive push higher later in the afternoon to reach 21.04, an impressive achievement, before the inevitable long liquidation kicked in to send values back down. Still, it remained an impressive performance with the final hour playing out either side of 20.90, leading to a 20.92 settlement which may well inspire additional buying for the near term.
May’23 jumped higher on today’s opening in reaction to No.11 and with selling rather thin on the ground continued the climb to match the $580.00 contract high by late morning, Quickly working through this mark the price then spiked ahead to $586.00 before the morning was done, only then pausing as a degree of profit taking combined with light hedging to provide some breathing space. The flat price remained calm for a few hours, edging comfortably sideways though never appearing threatened as longs sat content that there would be opportunity to forge additional technical strength later in the afternoon. When the market did start to move again it was still trade and spec buying that combined to extend the upside again, this occasion reaching to $589.80, a $17 gain for the day. Naturally, the buying at the front of the boar was extending spread values, though as previously maybe not by so much as could have been anticipated, with May/Aug’23 reaching $16.60 and Aug/Oct’23 topping at $17.40. White premiums meanwhile spent the day either side of last night’s values as whites and No.11 moved in relative tandem, though late in the day values were firmer with May/May’23 holding around $127.00. There was some late buying which ensured that we pushed back towards the highs ahead of the call, reaching a close at $588.40 which will win favour with longs and technicians.
