Daily Market Price Updates and Commentary 25th March 2025

Raw Sugar Update

Yesterday’s decline brought out a small amount of physical interest and the resultant hedge lifting took May’25 a little higher on the opening although the gains were soon erased once it had concluded. The market then proceeded to languish ahead of 19.20 for much of the morning on low volume, interspersed by a couple of sharp short covering rallies, the second of which ensured the nearby prompts were back to a small credit as we reached noon. With US specs now on board to bring a little more interest to an otherwise quiet flat price there were additional upside gains made over the following hours, aided considerably by a lack of any grower selling now that the market has dropped back from the highs. Moderate volumes for both May/Jul’25 and Jul/Oct’25 was preventing volumes from falling to extremely low levels, with both trading marginally higher as a result. May’25 highs were recorded at 19.59 later in the afternoon as longs endeavored to tee things up for a positive close, and though the market slipped slightly a solid settlement was made at 19.52 before values rallied to 19.60 on the post close. This presents well, though remaining around 50 points from the recent highs it does not yet represent anything more than stabilization as longs look to restore the upward movement.   

White Sugar Update

There was a good deal of choppy trading seen for May’25 this morning as the price swung between $538.60 / $544.70, though values were light, and the movement was more a reflection of the thin trading conditions now that we have returned to the range. It was only towards the middle of the session that prices started to hold a tighter band and whether it was this which provided the stability needed or otherwise it acted as a prelude to the market starting to move more positively through the rest of the afternoon. The recovery was by no means and lagged the gains being made for No.11, however it did endure through the afternoon with session highs recorded at $547.50 into the final hour. The aforementioned No.11 gains were impacting the nearby white premium values with May/May’25 valued down to $115.00, while spreads were also lower again with May/Aug’25 at $10.30 not providing a great sign that a recovery will be lasting. The last hour proved to be mixed with assorted activity from smaller traders resulting in a May’25 close at $544.70, bringing a quiet day to an end in a way which suggests that more range trading is likely.