Insight Focus
The July’26 raw sugar futures expire on Tuesday. Producers have reduced their position by 22.9k lots of shorts. Dairy markets have come under steady pressure over the past month, with NZX futures for butter, whole milk powder and skim milk powder all falling by around 5%.
New York No.11 Raw Sugar Futures
The July’26 raw sugar futures expire on Tuesday, and prices are currently trading at 14c/lb.
On the commercial side, producers have reduced their position by 22.9k lots of commercial shorts, whilst end-users added 1.2k lots of longs to their position.
No.11 Commitment of Traders Report (June 23, 2026)
Speculators added to their shorts by 12.2k lots and further added to their longs by 5.8k lots.
The speculative net-short position currently stands at -148,583 lots.
No.11 & No.5 Open interest
Both the No.11 forward futures curve and the No.5 forward futures curve have strengthened across the board.
White Premium (Arbitrage)
The Q/N white premium started the week at USD 1146.1/tonne, hit a mid-week high of USD 148.9/tonne and eventually closed at USD 155.8/tonne on Friday.
Dairy Futures
Dairy markets have come under steady pressure over the past month, with NZX futures for butter, whole milk powder and skim milk powder all falling by around 5%.
The move feels broad and consistent rather than driven by any one product, and it lines up with weaker GDT auction results through June, which have reinforced the softer tone. At the heart of it is strong supply, New Zealand has just come off a record season, and production from Europe and other regions is also solid, leaving the market comfortably supplied.
While slightly lower freight and energy costs are a small positive, they’re not enough to offset the weight of supply, and a stronger NZD is adding a further drag. The next GDT auction will be the key near-term test of whether prices are starting to find a floor or if there’s still more downside to come.
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
