Liffe sugar surges

May white sugar ended $11.10 higher at $547.70 per tonne on Wednesday. Market supported by expected strong Russian imports during May and demand from Pakistan. Main short-term focus is the expiry of the May contract on Thursday. July cocoa on Liffe ended 6 pounds lower at 2,135 pounds a tonne. Strength of sterling against the dollar helped to weigh on prices in London.
Market awaits first-quarter North American grind data due to be issued on Thursday. July robusta coffee settled up $3 at $1,386 per tonne, underpinned by a weaker dollar. Sugar futures galloped higher on Wednesday in a technical rally bolstered by the prospect of stronger demand from Russia, Pakistan and the United States, analysts said.
Cocoa and coffee futures edged higher, with cocoa market players looking toward release of North American consumption data tomorrow. Since hitting that low, raw sugar has climbed 15.07 percent to its session top of 17.79 cents on Wednesday. "All of the weak hands may be out of this market now," said James Cordier, senior analyst for brokerage optionsellers.com in Florida.
Russia, the world's No 3 raw sugar importer, will cut its raw sugar import tariff to $50 per tonne in May from $140, the Commission of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan said on Wednesday. "We've seen production in Russia underperform...It is likely they will import quite a hefty amount of sugar," Snowdon said.
Pakistan has also issued a series of tenders for white sugar during the last few days and the USDA has unveiled plans to increase its import quota. A European broker said in a daily market report that the USDA's increase in the US domestic sugar import quota by 300,000 short tons (272,155 tonnes) was probably neutral for the market, and that a further increase was likely.
Cocoa futures were mixed higher as the market awaited first quarter North American grind data, due out on Thursday. Europe's first-quarter grind rose 8.1 percent year-on-yea, but the data was not robust enough to indicate demand was strengthening. "We don't see these grinding figures as a one-off. It is going to be the beginning of a run of strong quarterly performances," Snowdon said. The start of the harvest in Brazil, the world's top coffee grower, provided some background pressure, said Costa.