Raw sugar futures settled mixed Friday in activity featuring small speculators and the market is seen staying range-bound going into next week, brokers said. ICE Futures actively-traded March electronic sugar contract eased 0.02 cent to trade at 9.79 cents per lb at 1:30 pm EDT (1730 GMT), moving from 9.73 to 9.92 cents.
The open-outcry March sugar contract slipped 0.01 cent to end at 9.80 cents, trading from 9.73 to 9.92 cents. May sugar lost the same to 9.84 cents. One contract aside, the rest added 0.01 cent. James Cordier, an analyst for brokers Liberty Trading Group, said sugar players seem content to see prices move in a band running from 9.50 to 10 cents, basis March.
"We've been chop city for all of this week and I don't see us doing anything different next week," a floor dealer said in describing the behaviour of the market. The dealer added that the wider trading band for sugar would be 9.40 to 10.20 cents.
A drought which could ravage next season's center-south cane harvest in top grower Brazil provides support for futures at a time when prices seem to be hemmed in by a glut caused by bumper cane crops in Brazil and India, among others.
"Once we got to the high for today, it failed again and came off when the specs unloaded on it," a dealer said. Technicians feel resistance in the March electronic sugar contract would be at 10, then 10.20 cents, with support at 9.60 and 9.46 cents.
Final estimated open-outcry volume was 6,330 lots, from the prior tally of 5,743 lots. Call volume was 33,201 lots and put volume amounted to 19,888 contracts. Screen trades hit 55,318 lots and total volume Thursday was 61,061 lots. Open interest in the No 11 sugar market soared 14,448 lots to 654,070 contracts as of October 11.
No deals were done in the ethanol market. The US electronic domestic No 14 sugar market showed the March contract down 0.08 cent to 20.15 cents at 1:32 pm. Screen volume on Thursday in the market reached 293 lots while 591 lots were traded in the pit.