Raw sugar prices finished at a nine-year high Thursday due to relentless buying by investors betting that supplies will get tight as more cane is funnelled into the production of the biofuel ethanol, brokers said.
The New York Board of Trade's benchmark spot March raw sugar contract jumped 0.49 cent, or 3.9 percent, to finish at 12.92 cents a lb, moving from 12.50 and a new contract peak of 12.96 cents. It was the highest close for sugar since trading near 13 cents in the middle of 1996. The second position May raw sugar contract climbed 0.50 cent, or 4.05 percent, to end at 12.84 cents, having hit a lifetime peak of 12.86 cents. The back months on the board gained from 0.50 to 0.54 cent.