London white sugar futures closed slightly lower on Thursday after speculative selling just outweighed earlier trade-driven gains, and dealers said they did not expect prices to break out of the current range soon. Liffe's front-month May settled down 10 cents at $263.90 a tonne, having traded between $266.20 and $262.60. August was down 20 cents at $262.20. The contract traded between $264 and $261.50.
"We did have some selling from the specs. But I think this is just liquidation on some stakes," one trader said. Of a total 5,489 lots traded, 3,962 traded in the front-month May contract and 1,208 traded in August.
Traders also said some producer selling had followed Thursday's EU export tender.
The European Union sold 60,000 tonnes of white sugar at a maximum rebate of 38.396 euros per 100 kg at the tender, traders said. Austria was awarded 30,000 tonnes, France 20,000 tonnes and Germany 10,000 tonnes, they added.
Earlier, prices had risen more than a dollar on the back of trade and fund buying, traders said.
Traders said a break out of the current $260-$268 range was unlikely, despite lingering speculative fund interest.