Operators in the cash sugar market are pondering if the Russians and Indians are making fresh inquiries although no deals have been done yet, brokers said Monday. "I've heard talk of the Russians making inquiries in the May under 9.00 cents," a trading house dealer said, referring to the raw sugar futures contract on the New York Board of Trade. "There is probably some Russian pricing being done in the market."
The May contract was trading at 8.83 cents per lb at 10:47 am EST (1547 GMT).
"You should see the level of Russian interest begin to pick up because the trade knows they need to do some business in the second quarter (of 2005)," a trading house manager added.
Traders have said they expect domestic Russian sugar prices to rise in the coming months, whetting the appetite for imports before the start of the next beet harvest from September.
Russia is the world's biggest sugar importer, but its presence in the market over the past few months has been muted.
Analysts said the Russians are expected to reemerge as a force in the cash sugar market because most of the last beet crop has been processed and a sizeable chunk of sugar stocks has been consumed.
Brokers said that aside from the Russians, interest may also be coming in from India, the world's biggest consumer of sugar whose cane crop has been battered lately by drought.
"I think some of the trade buying we have seen recently in futures would come from India, but it's hard to pin down if anything has been done," one explained.
Traders and industry officials in India have said the country has contracted to import 2.0 million tonnes of raw sugar and another 500,000 tonnes to 1.0 million tonnes will likely be shipped in by September.
Indian sugar production in 2004/05 (October-September) is expected to drop to 12.5 million tonnes. Officials said output is seen recovering to around 15 million tonnes but that depends on whether the annual monsoon arrives on time in June.
Indian sugar stocks are seen falling to 4.43 million tonnes by the end of this season from 8.5 million tonnes at the end of 2003/04.
Business from other customers has been routine, particularly in the Middle East and in Asia.
Thai dealers said several vessels have been booked to ship sugar in the coming weeks, mainly for Indonesia, the biggest sugar importer in Southeast Asia.
Cash sugar differentials remained firm, brokers said.
Quotes for raw sugar for prompt shipment were seen at 5 to 10 points above the NYBOT raw sugar market, unchanged from last week's level.
Comments
Comments are closed.