Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Sugar futures extended a rally to a 30-year high on mounting concern that dry weather in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer, and record rainfall in Australia will slash global supplies. Worldwide demand will reach 165.3 million metric tons in the year ending Sept. 30, topping supplies by almost 3 million tons, ABN Amro Bank NV and VM Group have forecast, reversing a projection for a surplus. Dry weather early in the growing season and rain during the harvest hurt crops in Brazil, according to their report. “The fundamentals remain very supportive,” said Jimmy Tintle, an analyst at Transworld Futures in Tampa, Florida. Raw sugar for March delivery gained 0.63 cent, or 1.9 percent, to 34.27 cents a pound at 9:44 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Earlier, the most-active contract reached 34.34 cents, the highest since Nov. 28, 1980. Before today, sugar gained 25 percent this year. The price has more than doubled from this year’s low of 13 cents on May 7. Rain in Australia’s Queensland state this month after the country’s wettest spring on record forced producers to leave some sugar cane unharvested. “Bad weather conditions are threatening crops around the globe,” Vibul Panitvong, the executive chairman of the Thai Sugar Miller Corp., said last week. Thailand is the second-largest exporter, followed by Australia. The dollar dropped for the fourth straight day against a basket of major currencies, enhancing the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment. The Thomson/Reuters Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials extended a rally to the highest since October 2008. “The weaker dollar today is supporting the commodity pack,” Tintle of Transworld said. The market for refined-sugar futures on NYSE Liffe in London was closed for a public holiday. --Editor: Patrick McKiernan To contact the reporter on this story: Debarati Roy in New York at droy5@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Patrick McKiernan at pmckiernan@bloomberg.net.

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