London December white sugar closed firmer on Tuesday after recovering from fund and speculator selling which dragged the market down to a three-month low of $229.1 on losses in New York, traders said.
December settled up $1.50 at $233 a tonne in volume of 3,817 lots. March ended up $2 at $249 in volume of 1,856 lots.
"We have seen long liquidation of funds against firm trade buying," a trader said.
London came under downward pressure early in the session after a weak close in New York, although trade buying supported prices.
Strong enquiries underpinned the physical market this week, but many buyers were holding out for prices to fall, traders said.
"There is immense interest for physical sugar around the globe. Buyers are pushing for lower cost and freight prices - below current market levels," one trader said.
Enquiries from Indian, North African and Russian buyers predominated this week amid talk of Indian purchases of a few cargoes of raw sugar, traders said.
Referring to recent fund-driven weakness in futures, one physical trader said: "The volume of interest is pretty poor when you consider how much sugar there is to move. The market needs to fall quite a bit lower."