Trade and fund buying pushed Liffe white sugar futures higher at the close on Thursday, traders said.
Front month August finished up $0.5 at $218.5 in volume of 2,077 lots, having traded between $218.9 and $217.0.
October settled up $1.0 at $225.0 in volume of 1,081 lots, having traded between $225.5 and $223.2.
"We saw a bout of buying by trade, then triggering some fund buying," one trader said.
Traders noted some producer selling and switch trades between August and October contracts.
There was little reaction in Liffe white sugar futures to news of a draft proposal from the European Commission that would overhaul the European Union's long-standing sugar subsidy regime, criticised by its trade partners as causing dumping of sugar on world markets.
Brazil and South Africa will muscle into traditional EU sugar export markets in Africa, the Middle East and Asia if the EU Commission's reform proposals slashing sugar export subsidies are implemented, traders and brokers said.
Under the proposed reform, which will need approval by the Commission and by EU member states, the Commission wants to cut EU sugar prices by around 40 percent and scrap its safety-net intervention system.