Insight Focus
The No.11 raw sugar futures market traded lower over the past week. Speculators added to both longs and shorts, but the larger increase in long positions meant their net short narrowed slightly. Commercials also reduced their net short exposure, while index funds cut their net long position.
New York No.11 Raw Sugar Futures
The No.11 raw sugar market remained under pressure through the latest reporting period. July futures closed at 14.08 c/lb on 9 June, having traded between 13.97 c/lb and 14.23 c/lb during the session. This continued the softer tone seen through early June, with prices moving lower from 14.45 c/lb at the start of the month.
On the commercial side, end-users increased long positions by 21.2k lots, while producers also added 14.0k lots of shorts. The larger increase in commercial longs meant the net commercial short position narrowed by 7.2k lots to -89.2k lots.
No.11 Commitment of Traders Report (June 9, 2026)
Speculators added exposure on both sides of the market. They opened 11.3k lots of longs and added 8.3k lots of shorts, leaving the net-speculative short position slightly smaller at -132.1k lots.
Index funds reduced their exposure, cutting 13.5k lots of longs and 3.3k lots of shorts. As a result, the net-index long position fell by 10.2k lots to 221.3k lots.
No.11 & No.5 Open interest
Both the No.11 forward futures curve and the No.5 forward futures curve have moved lower across the board.
White Premium (Arbitrage)
The Q/N white premium stared the week at USD 131.4/tonne and closed higher at USD 135.1/tonne on Friday.
Corn Futures
Corn has been drifting lower over the past week, now around 407.5 c/bushel, as the market leans more clearly bearish. The main driver today is the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which is easing concerns around fertilizer supply and has already pushed urea prices sharply lower, taking away an important cost support for corn.
On top of that, the latest USDA report increased crop estimates in Brazil and Argentina and lifted global supply, adding further pressure. Demand isn’t helping either, with China expected to use more sorghum and barley instead of corn, while in the US, crop conditions remain strong with good weather and nearly all planting complete.
At the same time, funds have shifted from heavily long to net short and open interest has dropped sharply, showing positions are being unwound. Overall, the tone is clearly weaker, with better supply, cheaper inputs, and negative positioning all pushing the market down.
For a more detailed view of the sugar futures and market data, please refer to the appendix below.
No.11 (Raw Sugar) Appendix
No.5 (White Sugar) Appendix
White Premium Appendix
