Insight Focus
Raw sugar futures traded between 18-19c/lb. Speculators have added to their short position. Speculators are now net short in the sugar market, once again.
New York No.11 Raw Sugar Futures
The raw sugar futures market traded between 18-19c/lb for most of last week, hitting a low of 17.9c/lb on Wednesday, before closing at 18.4c/lb on Friday.
After being neutral in the market for some time, speculators have shorted the market again, opening 35.7k lots of short positions. Speculators further closed out 11.1k lots of long positions.
Speculators have reverted to their net short position as they are now net short in the sugar market once again at -45,500 lots.
Producers have closed out a significant number of short positions by 34.6k lots, while end-users opened 17,400 lots of long positions.
The No.11 futures curve has flattened across the board.
London No.5 Refined Sugar Futures
The No.5 refined sugar futures traded between 521-533.1 USD/tonne over the past week, closing at 526.7 USD/tonne on Friday.
Speculators closed out 2,800 lots of longs bringing the net spec position down to 20,400 lots.
No.5 Open Interest
The No.5 refined sugar futures curve has declined in the past week and remains in backwardation.
White Premium (Arbitrage)
The V/V white premium, traded between USD 120-130/tonne last week, closing at USD 120.6/tonne on Friday.
Many re-export refiners need around USD 105-115/tonne above the No.11 to profitably produce refined sugar. The current white premium is above this level, which means we should theoretically see a pick-up in demand soon.
For a more detailed view of the sugar futures and market data, please refer to the appendix below.
No.11 (Raw Sugar) Appendix
No.5 (White Sugar) Appendix
No.5 Spreads
White Premium Appendix
