London sugar ends mostly higher

London sugar futures settled mostly higher on fund buying into producer selling, traders said.
Front month August finished up $2.3 at $243.6 a tonne in volume of 3,709 lots, having traded between $244.2 and $241.1.
October closed up $1.1 at $246.9 in volume of 5,626 lots, having moved between $249.4 and $244.4.
March 2005 ended down $0.8 at $255.5 in volume of 836 lots.
Traders saw resistance in the August contract at $247.0 and in October at $250.0 with August trading around 16-month highs.
"Funds were active mainly in the morning, and we've seen some profit taking, but the market did not sell off at the close," one trader said.
Another said the London whites futures market was supported by sentiment that Russian and Indian offtake would improve as a global deficit loomed into the next crop cycle.
Traders said much of the activity on Thursday was spread-based, with funds rolling positions from August into October.
They said the Liffe whites market could be due for a correction lower soon, possibly on Friday.
In fundamentals, the Taiwan Sugar Corp has sealed a deal for 20,000 tonnes of white sugar from Tate & Lyle and will tender for another 20,000 tonnes on Thursday, said a Taisugar official.
The official declined to reveal the price of the purchase.