Insight Focus
Raw sugar futures traded between 18.9-20c/lb. Producers continued to take advantage of higher prices. Speculators closed out more short positions and are close to a neutral position in the sugar market.
New York No.11 Raw Sugar Futures
The raw sugar futures market traded between 19-20c/lb for most of last week, before closing lower at 18.9c/lb on Friday.
Producers continued to take advantage of the price strength as they opened 30,800 lots of short positions. Whereas end-users added only 1,300 lots of long positions as they are well covered in the sugar market today.
Speculators have continued to close their short positions over the past week, as they reduced their short position by 19,200 lots. Speculators further opened a minimal number of long positions at 3,200 lots of longs.
Speculators are now net-short in the sugar market by -8,700 lots and are very close to a neutral position.
The No.11 futures curve has weakened between Oct’24 and Oct’26 but remains in backwardation.
London No.5 Refined Sugar Futures
The No.5 refined sugar futures traded between USD 542-530/tonne over the past week, closing at USD 533/tonne on Friday.
Speculators opened 3,900 lots of longs bringing the net spec position up to 20,400 lots.
No.5 Open Interest
The No.5 refined sugar futures curve has weakened across the board.
White Premium (Arbitrage)
The V/V white premium, traded between USD 112-116.2/tonne, closing at USD 116.1/tonne on Friday.
Many re-export refiners need around USD 105-115/tonne above the No.11 to profitably produce refined sugar. The current white premium is just above this level.
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
No. 5 Spreads
White Premium Appendix
