RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – White sugar futures on ICE were up on Monday (5) as the market tried to assess the extent of damage caused by frost on sugarcane plantations in Brazil last week. Raw sugar and Arabica coffee markets were closed on Monday due to the U.S. national holiday.
Sugar
White sugar for August closed up US$1.10, or 0.2%, at US$451.40 a ton, toward a 3-week high of US$461.40 registered on July 1. “The frosts could have caused severe damage (to Brazilian cane), but have probably not,” brokerage Marex said in a weekly update Monday.
Pakistan’s state trading agency TCP bought 100,000 tons of white sugar in a tender for the same volume that closed last week, European traders said Monday.
Coffee
Robusta coffee for September delivery closed down US$20, or 1.2%, at US$1,687 a ton, extending the drop from a 2 1/2-year high of US$1,737 hit on Friday. Operators said the market looked technically overbought after recent advances.
Traders also noted that most coffee areas in Brazil appear to have been spared from frost damage. Speculators increased net long positions in Robusta coffee during the week of June 29, against the backdrop of frost concerns in Brazil.