BLBG: Sugar Rises to 5-Week High in New York as Brazil's Crop May Be Over Soon
Sugar rose to a five-week high in New York as reduced production from Brazil, the world’s largest grower, may signal its largest harvest is nearing an end.
Sugar output in Brazil’s Center South, the world’s largest producing region, fell 18 percent in the second half of November, industry association Unica said on Dec. 14. The sugarcane harvest in Center South is usually done by December, according to the U.S. agricultural attaché in Sao Paulo.
“The Unica numbers for the Brazilian crop showed that we are close to the end of the harvest, which may be a very good support for London and New York futures,” said Fabienne Pointier, an analyst and broker at Lausanne, Switzerland-based research company Kingsman SA.
Raw sugar for March delivery rose as much as 0.7 cent, or 2.3 percent, to 31.7 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S., the highest price since Nov. 11, and traded at 31.56 cents a pound at 8:43 a.m. in New York.
White sugar for March delivery climbed $10.20, or 1.3 percent, to $777.50 a ton on NYSE Liffe in London.
Brazil has two harvests, one in the Center South and the other in the northern part of the country.
Cocoa for March delivery fell $53, or 1.8 percent, to $2,950 a ton on ICE. The chocolate ingredient for March delivery lost 31 pounds, or 1.6 percent, to 1,975 pounds ($3,073) a ton on NYSE Liffe on signs of increased supplies.
Valid Certificates
Cocoa inventories with a valid grading certificate in European warehouses monitored by NYSE Liffe increased 21 percent in the past two weeks. Valid inventories were 205,390 tons as of Dec. 13, up from 170,230 tons two weeks earlier, according to figures on NYSE Liffe’s website yesterday.
Armajaro Holdings Ltd., a London-based commodities hedge fund, completed the sale of beans bought in July, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified cocoa brokers.
The fund, managed by Anthony Ward, sold some of the beans to buyers and delivered the rest on NYSE Liffe, according to the newspaper.
Armajaro took delivery of 240,100 tons of cocoa in July, the biggest on the exchange in 14 years, the Financial Times said. Ward declined to comment, John Sarsfield, a London-based spokesman for Armajaro, said when contacted by Bloomberg News.
Arabica coffee for March delivery climbed 2.25 cents, or 1 percent, to $2.188 a pound on ICE. Robusta coffee for March delivery added $22, or 1.1 percent, to $1,969 a ton on NYSE Liffe.
To contact the reporters on this story: Stephen Morris in London at smorris39@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net
