Raw sugar prices finished mixed Thursday with speculative buying largely offset by trade sales as the market is seen consolidating given its recent surge to over 8-year highs, brokers said.
The New York Board of Trade's key March raw sugar contract eased 0.04 cent to settle at 11.69 cents a lb, moving from 11.51 to 11.74 cents. May fell 0.02 to 11.64 cents. One contract aside, the rest added 0.01 cent. Sugar had mounted a searing rally over fears that leading grower Brazil will divert cane into the production of the biofuel ethanol as a result of high crude prices.