London sugar settled lower on speculative selling against trade and speculative buying on Thursday, dealers said. March finished down $2.80 or 0.82 percent at $340.10 per tonne in volume of 4,075 lots after trading from $343.00 to $337.00. May closed down $2.60 at $337.40 in volume of 1,514 lots, having moved from $339.90 to $336.00.
Traders said speculative selling was triggered when March hit a sell stop at $342.00. "London was sold to trigger sell stops, then specs bought it," one trader said. "Funds and specs are getting shorter." Traders talked of improving physical offtake, including Russian demand for raw sugar.
Bulgaria and Romania, set to become full European Union members next month, will be subject to strict rules to prevent sugar hoarding in the run-up to accession, the bloc's Official Journal said on Thursday.
COCOA SETTLES OFF HIGHS: London cocoa futures closed off five-month highs on Thursday after a session marked by fund buying and spread activity, dealers said. March settled up nine pounds or one percent at 913 pounds a tonne in volume of 7,155 lots, having moved from a five-month front-month continuation peak of 915 to 901.
May finished up seven pounds at 918 in volume of 3,753 lots after trading from 919 to 906. "There was a lot of outright buying in May. We saw fund activity in March and May, and a lot of spread activity," one trader said. Exports of semi-finished cocoa products from Ivory Coast totalled 54,384 tonnes in October and November, down slightly from the corresponding period in 2005.
COFFEE STEADIES: London robusta coffee futures ended little changed on Thursday, with speculative and industry buying offset by continued producer selling, dealers said. Benchmark March ended up $6 at $1,482 per tonne after trading in a range of $1,485 to $1,473. Total volume was 10,278 lots.
"We are seeing some spec and light industry buying," one dealer said, adding that the upside continued to be limited by Vietnamese sales with the top robusta producer in the process of harvesting a large crop.
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