Sugar Jumps Most in Two Years on Indian Supply Concerns; Coffee Declines

Sugar futures had the biggest gain in almost two years on concern that supplies will be disrupted in India, the world’s second-biggest producer. Cocoa and coffee declined.

Sugar-cane growers in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest grower, will withhold supplies should mills fail to meet a minimum price requirement, a farm group said. Futures soared 46 percent in the third quarter after adverse weather damaged crops in Russia and Pakistan.

“Production disruptions in India will support higher prices,” said Ricardo Scaff, a trader at Rabobank International in New York.

Raw sugar for March delivery advanced 1.62 cents, or 6.9 percent, to settle at 25.16 cents a pound at 2 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, the biggest gain since Oct. 29, 2008. Earlier, the price reached 25.41 cents, the highest level for a most-active contract since Feb. 22.

In London, refined-sugar futures for December delivery gained $24.20, or 3.9 percent, to close at $649.80 a metric ton, the highest settlement since Feb. 26.

Brazil is the largest producer.

Arabica-coffee futures for December delivery fell 2.1 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $1.7345 a pound in New York. In London, robusta-coffee futures for November delivery dropped $6, or 0.4 percent, to $1,621 a ton.

Cocoa futures for December delivery declined $4, or 0.2 percent, to $2,740 a ton in New York. In London, cocoa futures for December delivery fell 8 pounds, or 0.4 percent, to 1,840 pounds ($2,919).

To contact the reporter on this story: Debarati Roy in New York at droy5@bloomberg.net; Chris Kay in London at ckay5@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net.