Mexico and the European Union increased import allowances this week. Demand is building in Muslim countries before Ramadan, as Sugar output in the main Brazilian producing region slumped 17 percent to 1.55 million metric tons in May’s first half from a year earlier, industry group Unica said yesterday.
“Brazil’s slow start of the crop, reiterated and confirmed by the last report of Unica, continues to chew over the sugar market,” Naim Beydoun, a broker at Swiss Sugar Brokers in Rolle, Switzerland, wrote in a report today. “Sugar is lagging 2 million tons behind last year’s output for the same period.”
Brazilian production fell on a combination of lower yields, harvest delays and use of a greater portion of raw material to make ethanol instead of sugar.
Luis Rangel, vice president of commodity derivatives at ICAP Futures LLC, wrote in a report yesterday. “With sugar yields down and demand for ethanol still high, we can imagine that sugar production will continue to trail year-ago levels for several weeks,” “We continue to look for higher prices in the short term.”
“With sugar yields down and demand for ethanol still high, we can imagine that sugar production will continue to trail year-ago levels for several weeks,” “We continue to look for higher prices in the short term.”