Raw sugar futures closed higher on Wednesday on light speculative buying and in sympathy with other New York Board of Trade agricultural contracts, but failed to break out of a two-week sideways trend, brokers said. An annual industry dinner kept some investors away from their trading desks, entertaining clients who had flown in for the event, they said.
"We continue to wait for more information as far as production this year, and it looks like we're going to have a production surplus," said James Corridor, head trader of Liberty Trading Group. New York Board of Trade's July contract rose 0.09 cent to close at 9.31 cents per lb. after trading from 9.22 to 9.33 cents. October gained 0.03 to 9.55 cents while the rest rose 0.03 to 0.05 cent.
On the IntercontinentalExchange's NYBOT electronic market for sugar, the July contract climbed 0.07 to 9.29 cents at 1:47 pm. The annual Sugar Club dinner in New York normally draws industry participants from around the world and especially from growers and exporters in leading producer Brazil.
"We're waiting for cash market news, for example from China or from Russia and it's just not developing," Corridor said, about future demand. In related news, centre-south Brazilian new crop raw sugar shipments to the Black Sea region are accelerating despite soaring freight rates, traders said on Wednesday.
Open-outcry volume in sugar was at 12,162 lots, down from the previous tally of 10,551 lots. Call volume was a heavy 25,567 lots and puts 6,982 lots. NYBOT said on Tuesday's screen trade were 29,640 lots and total volume 40,191 lots. Open interest in the No 11 raw sugar market rose 7,497 lots to 716,356 lots as of May 8.
Ethanol futures were untrained. US domestic sugar prices ended mixed. The July contract gained 0.01 cent to 21.06 cents per lb. while September closed unchanged at 20.93 cents. The rest were flat to 0.01 firmer. Screen volume traded on Tuesday in the No 14 sugar market hit 251 lots and an open-outcry deal was 355 lots. On the electronic No 14 sugar market, the July contract was 0.09 higher at 21.16 cents at 1:51 pm.