White sugar hits three-month high

White sugar futures soared to a three-month high and raw sugar hit the highest in seven weeks on Friday as delays in harvesting and loading crops in Brazil and Thailand combined with brisk cash buying. Arabica coffee stumbled and cocoa marched higher although gains were kept in check by the steady flow of supplies from top producer Ivory Coast. New York's July raw sugar contract added 0.80 cent or by 3.22 per cent to close at 25.64 cents per pound. London's August white sugar futures went up $11.40 to close at $723.50 per tonne, having touched a three-month peak at $729.20. The market is deriving support from a growing queue of ships waiting to load sugar at ports in No 1 supplier Brazil, which rose to 70 vessels from 69 a week ago. Thailand, another major exporter, is experiencing similar delays loading sugar. There is also solid offtake from countries in the Middle East and North Africa booking orders ahead of Ramadan in August. "That is keeping the market supported," said Country Hedging Inc analyst Sterling Smith. Fund and investor rolling of positions before the June 30 expiry of the ICE July raw sugar futures contract accounted for much of the volumes, said Peter de Klerk, senior analyst with Czarnikow. Arabica coffee futures reeled from sales tied to expiration of options on July futures. Pressure was also felt from the harvest in No 1 coffee producer Brazil and a firmer dollar. "The dollar being firmer is putting pressure on a lot of things," said Smith. New York's September arabica coffee contract fell 1.50 cents to finish at $2.6835 per pound. But London's September robusta futures added $2 to close at $2,509 a tonne. The weekly Commitment of Traders report in the US showed that investors and speculators increased their net long positions in sugar by 11 per cent. From / Gulf News