Raw sugar futures were soft in early business on Thursday as the market extended a pull-back from one-year highs reached earlier in the week, brokers said. "It seems like the market may be under a little producer pressure, but otherwise, it's very quiet. We're in a little bit of a retracement from this week's highs," said one floor trader.
ICE Futures electronic March sugar contract was down 0.14 cent to 11.32 cents per lb at 9:24 am EST (1424 GMT), moving in an 11.28-11.60 cent morning range. The March open-outcry contract on Wednesday edged up 0.08 cent to 11.45 cents per lb, as the market consolidated at slightly higher levels, a day after hitting 11.78 cents, the highest level for a front-month contract since December 29, 2006. Trading volume in the electronic March contract was at a light 1,882 lots by 9:16 am Open-outcry volume at 9 am was estimated at 1,640 lots.