NYBOT raw sugar futures finished Tuesday at a three-year peak on a steady fusillade of fund buying, with bullish fundamentals seen keeping the market strong in the weeks ahead, brokers said.
March sugar sprang up 0.12 cent to close at 9.05 cents a lb, just below the top of its 8.92 to 9.07 cent trading band. On a spot basis, it was the highest close for sugar since trading around 9.20 cents in the middle of 2001.
May gained 0.09 to 9.07 cents. The rest of the board increased 0.09 to 0.12 cent.
Sugar has taken off as funds piled into the sweetener, partly due to forecasts of a significant deficit in 2004/05 and an expected surge in consumer buying from countries like India and possibly Russia.