Monday, August 3, 2009

Refined Sugar Jumps to Highest Since at Least 1989 on Shortfall

From Bloomberg.
White sugar rose to its highest since at least 1989 in London on analysts’ forecasts for a global supply shortfall after lighter-than-expected monsoon rains in India, the second-biggest producer.

Monsoon rainfall was 18 percent lower than usual in the week to July 29, according to the country’s weather office. Deficient rain in July last year reduced cane yields, causing sugar output to halve and turning India into a net buyer for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

“Momentum is strong,” Eugen Weinberg, an analyst with Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, said by phone. “Fundamentally, the market is in short supply and prices will be supported.”

White, or refined, sugar for October delivery surged $11.10, or 2.3 percent, to close at $502.90 a metric ton on Liffe, the highest since at least January 1989