Daily Market Price Updates and Commentary 3rd March 2025

May’25 started its tenure as spot month with another slide lower, continuing the trend which start on Wednesday with a drop to 18.36. The latest COT report showed a sharp reduction in the spec short position to stand at -53,271 lots as at last Tuesday, though of course the subsequent sharp reversal in prices will have brought renewed selling to increase this number again with some who had covered likely to be reinstating short positions. Further spec led selling arrived as the morning progressed and sent the price back into the teens, the relentless pummeling being received showing no sign of abating just yet. There was to be some respite as we moved into the afternoon with the market working back through the morning range to a high of 18.56 against short covering, however once this had been concluded a familiar pattern resumed and the price was pushed back to the lows. Having traded to 18.14 May’25 saw another smaller recovery against yet more short covering, and with little attention being shown by those with physical interests that proved to be the end of the movements and prices settled down to sit ahead of the lows through the final couple of hours. The close arrived to leave May’25 settling at 18.22 and complete another poor showing, though having now reached the formerly congested 18c area on the charts might we now see some respite for the market and calmer trading.

It was a sloppy start to the week for the whites as immediate lower prints gathered more selling interest and sent May’25 down to $526.00 in a continuation of the current trend. This was not the end of the losses as some brief correction ended with another push lower which extended to $524.10 and placed the market more than $40 below the highs seen last week. This came despite a backdrop which has seen the specs buying the whites and return to a long holding just a few days ago, a positive view on white sugar which has been backed by still firm spread and white premium values despite the current tribulations for the flat price. There was some short covering and light end user interest which provided some supportive buying through the middle part of the day; however, its impact was limited, and values remained in the red and turned back towards the lows once it had been completed as day traders backed the trend. Volumes were moderate as the rest of the session saw prices quietly drift, eventually petering out with a close only just above the lows at $524.80. May/Aug’25 settled at $17.70 with May/May’25 valued at $123.10.