Insight Focus
The No.11 raw sugar prices are trading above 14cc/lb again. Commercial participants have continued to close out their positions. Geopolitical tensions in Iran have sent Brent crude prices up above USD 100/barrel for the first time since 2022.
New York No.11 Raw Sugar Futures
The raw sugar futures started the week at 13.9c/lb and moved lower to 13.7c/lb on Wednesday, before eventually closing the week at 14.1c/lb on Friday.
Commercial participants have continued to close out their positions with end-users closing out 16.6k lots of longs and producers reducing their position by 14.2k lots.
No.11 Commitment of Traders Report (March 3, 2026)
Speculators have increased their long positions by 11.7k lots of longs and further closed out 4.8k lots of short positions.
The net-short position currently stands at -241,377 lots.
No.11 & No.5 Open interest
Both the No.11 and No.5 forward futures curve have lifted higher across all contracts.
White Premium (Arbitrage)
The K/K white premium started the week at USD 106.9/tonne and settled at USD 103.7/tonne on Friday.
Brent Crude Oil
Oil prices jumped sharply this morning as the Iran conflict moved into its 10th day, sending Brent back above USD 100/per barrel for the first time since 2022. By 11:09 AM GMT, Brent was at USD 104.53, up 13%, while WTI was at USD 103.43, up 14%. Earlier in the session, Brent briefly surged as high as USD 119.50 before pulling back.
The move has been driven by growing concern over supply disruptions in the Middle East, with production affected, energy facilities under attack, and shipping routes still heavily disrupted. News that the G7 and IEA may discuss a coordinated release of reserves helped calm the market slightly, but prices remain highly elevated.
For the packaging industry, this matters because higher oil prices can feed into the cost of PET and other oil-based plastics, as well as energy and transport costs. If prices stay high, this could increase pressure on packaging costs and squeeze margins across the supply chain.
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
