Sugar Futures Advance as Asian Demand Grows, Shipments Delayed in Brazil

Sugar rose in New York, capping the biggest weekly gain since mid-June, as Asian demand increased while shipments from Brazil, the world’s largest exporter, were delayed by rain.

The Philippines will likely award rights to import 100,000 metric tons of sugar as early as today, Sugar Regulatory Administration planning head Rosemarie Gumera said. A record 115 vessels were waiting to load at Brazil’s six main ports as of July 27. The backlog is more than twice as big as last year.

“Sugar is in a bull market because of tightness in the near-term supply,” said Phil Streible, a senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a broker in Chicago.

Raw sugar for October delivery rose 0.07 cent, or 0.4 percent, to close at 19.57 cents a pound at 2 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Yesterday, the price reached 19.67 cents, the highest level for a most-active contract since March 15.

Raw sugar jumped 7.2 percent this week, the biggest weekly advance since June 11, and surged 22 percent in July.

Prices may reach 21 cents a pound in the next 30 to 60 days, Streible said.

On London’s Liffe exchange, refined-sugar futures for October delivery climbed $8.40, or 1.5 percent, to settle at $585.70 a metric ton at 5:30 p.m. local time. Earlier, the price reached $586.30, the highest level since March 9.

“Strong physical demand in the whites market has kept the futures buoyant,” Czarnikow Group Ltd. said today in a report. The October contract “has continued to show strength,” the London-based trading company said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yi Tian in New York at ytian8@bloomberg.net.

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