London white sugar futures settled mixed on Thursday after an EU export tender that surprised some traders because of the low volume awarded against heavy bids. Front-month December settled at $299.5 a tonne, down 50 cents in volume of 2,066 lots, after moving from $299 to $302.7.
March concluded up 80 cents at $303.8 per tonne in volume of 1,732 lots, having traded from $302 to $306.
Some traders expressed surprise that the EU sold just 2,000 tonnes of sugar, out of bids for 293,000, at a maximum rebate of 39.848 euros per 100 kg at Thursday's tender.
World trade rules put strict annual ceilings on the volume and value of subsidies for EU sugar exports in the year to September 30, 2005, and this limited the award on Thursday as the year came to a close, a European official said.
The total volume of awards permitted in the year to September 30, 2005, was 1.273 million tonnes, and the value was 499 million euros.
Traders noted trade buying underpinning the white sugar futures market, and said activity in the distant months was brisk, including spread trades.
Producer selling featured early in the session ahead of the EU tender, they said.
Indonesia has delayed issuing import permits to buy up to 250,000 tonnes of white sugar under 2006 quotas to mid-October from an initial target of this month, trade ministry officials said on Thursday.
COFFEE FLAT:
London coffee prices finished flat on Thursday after producer selling and trade short covering wiped out gains made on concern about US supplies in New Orleans, traders said.
Liffe's benchmark November robusta finished $2 off at $875 a tonne after an $863-903 range on volume of 5,065 lots from a total of 9,362.
News that the New York Board of Trade intends to suspend the licences of eight warehouses in New Orleans hit by recent hurricane buoyed prices earlier in the day but New York's failure to maintain Wednesday's late arabica rally dampened sentiment. "It's origin selling and trade profit taking into fund buying," a dealer said.
NYBOT's December arabica contract made a session peak of 95 cents before regressing back to the little changed 93 cent area.
The NYBOT suspension affects an estimated 561,392 bags of certified coffee, about 76 percent of exchange-certified stocks stored in New Orleans.
Technical weakness and fund selling of arabica have depressed robusta prices recently, despite the opinion among many traders and analysts that an expected shortage of robusta towards year end should support prices.
German coffee roasters are facing immense pressure following a huge rise in German power and other energy costs this year, the chief executive of German coffee industry association DKV said on Thursday.