Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Sugar prices fell for a second day as India, the world’s largest consumer, curbed imports and the dollar strengthened, reducing the appeal of the commodity as an inflation hedge. India’s cane crop is in “very good” condition as rainfall increased, the government in New Delhi said. Improving crop prospects and domestic-price controls will delay a rise in imports, said JRG Wealth Management, which advises Indian commodity traders. The dollar rose as much as 0.7 percent against a basket of six major currencies. The greenback’s gains have “put the commodities under immediate pressure,” Michael McDougall, a Newedge USA LLC senior vice president in New York, said today in a report. “India buying has calmed.” Raw-sugar futures for March delivery fell 0.29 cent, or 1.2 percent, to 23.64 cents a pound at 10:24 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The most-active contract slid 0.3 percent yesterday. Before today, the price more than doubled this year as adverse weather limited harvests in Brazil and India, the largest cane-growers, contributing to a second straight global- production deficit. Sugar will be in “a technical no-mans-land” until it breaks out of a trading range between 22.96 cents to 24.62 cents, McDougall said. The March contract may fall to as low as 19.5 cents should prices drop below 22.96 cents, he said. The market won’t hold up “if India imports are diminishing and Brazilian production is beginning to increase next year,” McDougall said. To contact the reporter on this story: Yi Tian in New York at ytian8@bloomberg.net.

Source