Raw sugar futures ended largely softer on Wednesday on speculative sales as rallies in crude and the gyrations of other commodity markets failed to light a fire under the sweetener, brokers said. ICE Futures March electronic sugar contract was down 0.06 cent at 10.01 cents per lb. at 1:24 pm EDT (1724 GMT), trading 9.93 to 10.05 cents.
The March open-outcry sugar's contracts shed 0.09 cent to end at 9.98 cents. A rally in the crude oil market barely registered on sugar contracts. The sweetener had previously tracked oil prices because a rally there could prompt producers to churn out more of the alternate fuel ethanol, trade sources said.
In industry news, the market took note that a shipment of Indian raw sugar is heading to the Russian port of Vladivostok, the first time in recent memory that a cargo of sugar is being shipped from India to the world's biggest importer of the sweetener.
Open-outcry volume around noon was at 15,767 lots, from the previous 7,452 lots. Call volume was at 13,749 lots and put volume amounted to 4,688 contracts. Screen trade on Tuesday hit 46,526 lots while total volume was at 53,978 lots. Open interest in the No 11 sugar market fell 1,470 lots to 744,436 contracts as of October 30.
There were no deals in the ethanol market. The US electronic domestic No 14 sugar market showed the January contract down 0.01 cent at 20.57 cents at 1:26 pm. Total screen volume on Tuesday reached 195 lots while no lots were traded in the pit.