Raw sugar futures on ICE Futures US at 8:53 am EDT (1253 GMT): July sugar contract rose 0.09 cent to 11.96 cents per lb. Ranged 11.77 to 11.99 cents. July contract volume at 12,040 lots. Modest investor buying while trade eyes expiration of May contract at close, dealers said.
Open interest in May contract at 29,705 lots as of Monday from previous 47,448 lots. Traders believe actual open interest down to 15,000 to 20,000 lots at the close Tuesday. Brazil's Agriculture Ministry said its 2008/09 (May/April) cane crush could hit a record between 558.1 million and 579.8 million tonnes, up from the 501.5 million tonnes in the last crop.
The Ministry added that sugar output was expected to rise to between 33.9 million and 35.2 million tonnes from 31.3 million tonnes in the previous season. And Brazilian mills are expected to produce 26.4 billion to 27.5 billion litters of ethanol, up from 23 billion litters in 2007/08. Thailand, Asia's biggest sugar exporter, said it will raise domestic sugar prices by 29 percent Thursday to boost farmers' income.
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