New York sugar settles mixed in mostly switch trade

Raw sugar futures closed mixed on Friday as switch trade took centre stage in the market, with investors getting out of positions in the spot July contract before it expires at month's end, brokers said. Analysts said further attempts by sugar to crawl past a 12-week high petered out from steady producer sales, especially from leading producer Brazil.
The New York Board of Trade's July raw sugar contract eased 0.01 cent to finish at 8.90 cents a lb., trading from 8.79 to 8.94 cents. October was flat at 9.00 cents.
The rest ranged from down 0.01 cent to up 0.02 cent. "You got another round of rolling and this will still be a feature going into next week," a long-time floor analyst said.
Open interest in the July contract slumped 7,556 lots to 133,877 contracts as of June 9, while interest in October soared 9,970 to 126,873 contracts.
Analysts said trade buying, especially from top importer Russia would meet mild downturns in the market. "Every time we dip a bit, the Russians are there to do there pricing," a dealer said.
Russia has been purchasing sugar due to a seasonal spike in demand from its soft drinks and ice cream companies. The sweetener attempted to get close to the recent high of 8.96 cents, but the producers would then step in and cap the modest advance, dealers said.
Technicians see support in the July contract at 8.50 and 8.60 cents, with resistance at the recent high of 8.95/96 and then 9.00 cents. Estimated volume just before the close of trade stood at 42,420 lots, down from the prior 74,162 lots.
Call volume reached 3,424 lots and puts came to 2,545 lots. Open interest in the No 11 raw sugar market surged 3,186 lots to 363,566 contracts as of June 9.
Ethanol futures ended steady, with the June contract finishing at 117 cents a gallon. US domestic sugar futures ended mostly lower. September slipped 0.02 to 22.29 cents a lb., while November lost the same to 21.25 cents.
The rest ranged from down 0.02 cent to up 0.01 cent. Estimated final volume before the close amounted to 92 lots, down from the prior count of 582 lots.