Raw sugar futures slipped in early deals on Thursday as options-related pressure spilled into speculative sales in the ring to abruptly cut short a recovery in the previous session, brokers said. ICE Futures electronic March sugar fell 0.09 cent to 9.85 cents per lb by 9:13 am EST (1413 GMT), moving from 9.83 to 9.95 cents. The rest lost 0.12 or 0.13 cent.
"There were some put sales in options and that piled over into the ring. For now, it's just sitting here trying to make up its mind where to go next," said a floor dealer for a financial house. In 2006/07, the Brazil harvest reached 426 million tonnes. Sugar production stood at 30.2 million tonnes and ethanol totalled 17.5 billion litres.