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Sugar News |
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US Commodity Scorecard: Sugar Falls Most in Latest Week New York, Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The following table shows the best- and worst-performing commodities in the Bridge- Commodity Research Bureau index during the past week. BEST PERFORMING Cocoa +2.6% Expectations for a slowdown in exports from West African growers sent cocoa higher. Natural Gas +2.5% Natural gas prices rose after an industry report showed U.S. inventories are 26 percent below levels a year ago. Soybeans +1.8% Rising U.S. exports to China and delays in South American harvests boosted soybean prices. Heating Oil +1.6% A drop in inventories of distillate fuels, including heating oil, to 2 1/2-year lows sent heating oil prices higher. Cotton +1.5% Cotton prices rose on signs of improved exports to buyers in Europe and Asia. WORST PERFORMING Sugar -8.8% Sugar fell to a nine-month low as abundant crops swamped demand from world buyers. Coffee -4.8% High U.S. inventories and weak demand from roasters sent coffee to a three-month low. Platinum -4.4% Platinum retreated from an 11-year high after Russian officials signaled an end to export restrictions. Orange Juice -4.2% High U.S. supplies and the end of the annual frost season in Florida, the top U.S. growing state, sent orange juice prices lower. Hogs -3.7% Hog prices fell on expectations that retail demand for pork won't be strong enough to counteract a high slaughter rate. Feb/18/2000 15:1 (C) Copyright 2000 Bloomberg L.P. |
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Sugar Stockpiles Expected to Rise to a Record in 1999-2000 London, Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Global sugar stockpiles will probably rise by a record 7.2 million tons this season as bumper crops worldwide exceed slack demand, one of the world's biggest sugar trading companies said. Sugar output worldwide will rise to 136.43 million tons raw value in 1999-2000, C. Czarnikow Sugar Ltd. said in its monthly report. That compares to demand of 128.21 million tons, it said. Raw sugar in New York yesterday dropped to the lowest price in almost nine months as sales from newly harvested crops overwhelm demand. The expected surplus this season would be the fifth straight year of oversupply. Still, bad growing conditions and a lack of funds available to growers ``may start to turn the tide over the 2000-2001 crop cycle,'' Czarnikow said. The estimate for the increase in inventories allows for one million tons of unaccountable supplies, Czarnikow said. The crop year is based on growing seasons in individual countries. Feb/17/2000 7:16 (C) Copyright 2000 Bloomberg L.P. |
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Oversupply prods CSCE March sugar under 5cts NEW YORK, Feb 16 (Reuters) - For the second straight session, CSCE March sugar extended its breakdown to fall below key 5.00-cent support on a spate of fund selling. Fundamentally, the market is little changed. It continues to be plagued by bursting oversupply and not enough consumer buying power to combat it, traders said. Adding to this bearish tone is the psychological sentiment coming from a lack of substantial buying by top importer Russia. "The surplus is outweighing the market. On top of that, the funds have started initiating a big short position so there's not that much support around," said one physical dealer. Fund selling pressured prices for spot March <SBHO> down to a new contract low at 4.95 cents, off 0.18. Key May <SBKO> also fell to a new lifetime low of 5.10 cents before closing at 5.11 cents a lb, off 0.19 cent. It hit the lowest level for a second month contract since May 27, 1999, on a daily continuation basis. "For the funds, the sugar market represents a tiny portion of what their exposure is so they could walk all over the futures market without any big consequences to themelves," said Marius Sonnen, president of Sonnen & Co. "Of course, they have to buy back these shorts as the contract expires so it remains to be seen how comfortable they are holding large net short positions before expiry." Market participants said there would likely be further price declines with support levels mostly seen as moving targets. Some nearby support is sitting at 4.40/60 for the March contract. "The sugar market is still reeling from the Commitment of Traders report that came out last Friday showing massive hedging through commercial short sales. Thus we have long liquidation going on by speculators," said James Cordier of Liberty Trading. "We had fund selling today and we have commercials taking short positions which is very bearish considering the levels we are trading at. If we were close to a bottom, we would see trade buying and some commercial buying," he added. 18:40 02-16-00 Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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Sugar Falls to 9-Month Low as Global Surplus, Weak Demand Seen New York, Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Sugar futures fell more than 3 percent to the lowest price in almost nine months as abundant crops swamp demand from world buyers. ``It's pretty simple -- too much selling and no demand,'' said Michael McDougall, a broker at Fimat Futures USA Inc. in New York. Global sugar production will exceed demand by 7.72 million metric tons during the marketing year that began Oct. 1, according to London-based ED&F Man Sugar Ltd. That would be up from a surplus of 7.13 million tons the previous season. Raw sugar for May delivery fell 0.19 cent, or 3.6 percent, to 5.11 cents a pound on the Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange in New York, the lowest closing price for a most-active contract since May 28. A glut of sugar on the world market has left prices 21 percent lower than a year ago. Sugar production is expected to increase in some countries that are big importers, including Russia, normally the world's top buyer of overseas supplies, according to ED&F Man. Brazil's crop, the world's largest, is expected to total 20.9 million metric tons, according to Man, up from last season's crop, estimated at 18.3 million by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In London, white, or refined, sugar for May delivery was little changed, falling $1 to $166.80 a metric ton (7.57 cents a pound) on the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange. Feb/16/2000 15:58 (C) Copyright 2000 Bloomberg L.P. |
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Weak demand seen pushing sugar price to new depths By Peter Blackburn LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - White sugar prices, which set fresh life-of-contract lows on Tuesday, are expected to sink further in the short term due to weak import demand, traders and analysts said. Long liquidation and renewed short selling on the London futures market pushed front May <LSUK0> to a new low of $167.00 a tonne, compared with a previous contract low of $168.00 set on February 1. "Final buyers seem to be ominously full of sugar," said Robin Shaw of British-based internet trader ComDaq. A small delivery of 4,350 tonnes of EU whites against the March expiry on Monday was seen as further proof of a lack of outlets. Larger than usual tonnages at recent European Union weekly export tenders and sales of lower quality Thai whites, mainly to Indonesia, were putting the market under pressure. India, one of the main outlets, had in effect closed its market to further imports. Burdened with stocks of nearly seven million tonnes and a big crop, it recently raised sugar import duties to a prohibitive 60 percent. Traders said whites would follow raw sugar futures as they challenged the lows in the run-up to the expiry of the March contract on February 28. But the crunch was likely to felt on the May and July contracts because comparatively little Thai sugar was likely to be tendered at the March expiry. Guatemalan and other Central American tonnage would not be that great either. Last year the market low was hit at the end of April when whites and raws futures sank to $158.50 a tonne and 3.93 cents a lb respectively. "Brazil and other exporters successfully pushed out supplies last year, which means that Russia, India and other buyers are now overstocked," said Chris Pack, head of research at broker Czarnikow Sugar. "Outlets this year will be more restricted. There's nothing bullish short-term," Pack added. Traders said Russia appeared to be stuffed with sugar, as shown by domestic prices holding well below international levels. Another bearish factor was that Thai producers still had to price their new crop and would sell heavily whenever the market tried to rally towards six cents. "The Thais have adopted an ostrich-like policy in deciding not to sell for the moment but the trouble is that Russia will be full when they come onto the market," Shaw said. For the time being the Thais were trying to sell very high polarisation (VHP) raws and 100 ICUMSA whites to Indonesia. Brazilian producers in the key centre-south region would be seeking to price their new crop when harvesting got into gear in May and June. Recent rains had followed early drought and sugar output was now expected to fall by only about three million tonnes to 16.5 million. 15:19 02-15-00 Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited. |
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CSCE sugar tumbles to 8-1/2-month low NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - CSCE raw sugar futures slid Tuesday to an 8-1/2-month nadir due to all-around sales into stops, floor sources said. Key May stumbled to a new lifetime low of 5.23 cents a lb, and was trading down 0.13 cent at 5.27 cents at 1238 EST. It was the lowest price for benchmark sugar since June 1, 1999, when the market settled at 5.24 cents. "We got specs, commission house and trade selling in here," a floor broker said. "We ran stops but finally got some support at the lows." Traders said sugar will likely suffer further weakness ahead of expiry of spot March, which goes off the board on Feb 28. Sugar has reeled badly from soft demand and plentiful supplies, with no relief likely until the end of 2000, they said. 12:44 02-15-00 Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited. |
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CSCE sugar ends down, nears fresh lifetime lows NEW YORK, Feb 14 (Reuters) - CSCE sugar futures finished sharply lower Monday on a wave of all-around sales as nearby months stumbled to within striking distance of fresh lifetime lows, which they may likely breach in the coming sessions. "It was a bad day for sugar," said Patrick Funaro, sugar specialist with the Brazil desk of FIMAT Futures in New York, said. "Technically, it looks awful." Spot March sugar <SBH0> sank 0.28 cent to end at the session low of 5.21 cents a lb. The intra-day high was 5.45 cents. It settled at a level just above the recent low of the previous two months of 5.20 cents, a mark that had constituted a key level of support for March sugar. The contract is now just a few points above its contract low of 5.06 cents. Benchmark May <SBK0> slid 0.27 to 5.40 cents, trading 5.62 to 5.38 cents, which is just above its lifetime nadir of 5.26. The rest were down 0.23-0.11 cent at the close. Brokers said a combination of the poor technical close on Friday, news that funds and small speculators in the CFTC commitment of traders data were net short by only 11,624 lots, and weak London whites pressured New York raws from the start. "They finally broke it down and we hit stops in both March and May," a floor dealer said. Said Funaro, "We hit a lot of stops below 5.40 in March and 5.55-5.57 in May. The market just collapsed." Physical brokers said option-related selling added to market pressure while origins were said to have lowered their sales target to below 5.50 cents in front March. A modicum of support came into the market and helped March stabilize briefly at 5.29, but another burst of sales near the close tried to take the contract below 5.20 cents, dealers said. "I won't be surprised to see the market test 5.15 (cents in March) just to see if we can generate more selling," Funaro said, adding no one is jumping into the buy side in physical dealings. "I think we're going to test 5.00 cents and see what's going on." Traders put support in March initially be at 5.20 and then all the way down to 5.00 cents. Support in May should be at the contract low of 5.26 cents. They pegged resistance in March at the overhead gap of 5.45-5.49 cents while May should find resistance at a gap of 5.62-5.65 cents. Estimated volume traded in the CSCE sugar market reached 37,005 lots from the previous estimated total of 14,682 lots. Call volume touched an estimated 5,143 lots while put volume reached around 2,279 lots. The CSCE is a subsidiary of the New York Board of Trade. ((--Rene Pastor, New York Commodity Desk, 212-859-1647, rene.pastor@reuters.com.)) For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: Global futures/spreads <SUGWLD> or <SUGGLOBE> Global overview <0#SUGAR> European cash <SUGAR/EU1> London whites futures <0#LSU:> New York raws <0#SB:> Asian physicals <SUGAR/ASIA1> London open/uncovered 1/8SUG/LOP 3/8 RELATED NEWS AND OTHER TOPICS All sugar news 1/8SUG 3/8 All softs news 1/8SOF 3/8 Softs summary 1/8GLANCE/SOF 3/8 Index of summaries 1/8GLANCE/ 3/8 All commodities news 1/8C 3/8 Softs diary 1/8SOF/DIARY 3/8 Weather news 1/8WEA 3/8 Foreign exchange rates <FX=S> SPEED GUIDES <COMMODS> <SOFT1> <SUGAR1> <SUGAR/FUT1> <SUGAR/CASH1> <REUTERS> 14:37 02-14-00 Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited. |
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CSCE sugar ends off as market rally derailed NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - CSCE sugar futures finished easier Monday as all-around sales scuppered a three-day long speculative fund inspired surge which had taken key March within striking distance of the 6.00 cents mark. "This close is as negative as Friday's close was positive," Patrick Funaro of FIMAT Futures said. "It's technically bad." March sugar <SBH0> slipped 0.13 to close at 5.66 cents a lb, and near the bottom of its 5.63-5.94-cent trading range. The market had risen 0.40 cent or by 7.42 percent of its value in the preceding three sessions as it approached the year high of 5.84 cents on Jan. 7. The last time it closed above 6.00 cents was on Nov. 18 at 6.04. May <SBK0> lost 0.14 to 5.78 cents and July <SBN0> fell 0.11 to 5.99 cents. The rest slipped 0.09 cent each. Sugar had been called to start as much as 0.20 cent higher, basis London, but failed to do so and merely edged up on steady speculative fund buying, floor sources said. "The scale-up selling increased in volume" as sugar made its way higher, said Funaro. With producers starting to unload in heavier fashion, sugar began falling under the weight of speculative profit-taking and liquidation once March touched the session peak of 5.94 cents, they said. "There was just no follow-through. When the buying thinned out a bit, it really came off. We really broke quickly when we got below 5.80 (cents). It was like a free-fall," a veteran floor broker said. Funaro said that once March filled a downside gap between 5.80-5.85 cents, that prompted more selling in the market. Traders are a bit confused though about the near-term direction of sugar futures. Funaro said a close above 5.80 cents in March over the next few days would mean a possible move toward 6.20 cents but a settlement below 5.55 may herald a slide to the 5.20 cents area. Another broker said March sugar would at least need to poke its nose above the 50-day moving average at 5.76 cents to spur further speculative shortcovering in the market. A close below the 20-day moving average at 5.50 would be greeted with dismay, he added. Funaro said the technically driven market dealings will persist "until we get a better view of what (top importer) Russia will do and what the Brazilian crop looks like." Physical demand, while steady, is not nearly enough to offset the overriding bearish fundamental of plentiful supplies. "I don't think the physical market is going to give us much of any help," a dealer said. Technically, traders said they feel resistance in March sugar should be at the 50-day moving average of 5.76 and then the session peak of 5.94 cents. Support was pegged at 5.60 cents and then the 20-day moving average of 5.50. Estimated volume traded in the CSCE sugar market reached 37,484 lots from the previous estimated total of 27,182 lots. Call volume touched an estimated 4,473 lots while put volume reached around 1,765 lots. The CSCE is a subsidiary of the New York Board of Trade. ((--Rene Pastor, New York Commodity Desk, 212-859-1647, rene.pastor@reuters.com.)) For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: Global futures/spreads <SUGWLD> or <SUGGLOBE> Global overview <0#SUGAR> European cash <SUGAR/EU1> London whites futures <0#LSU:> New York raws <0#SB:> Asian physicals <SUGAR/ASIA1> London open/uncovered 1/8SUG/LOP 3/8 RELATED NEWS AND OTHER TOPICS All sugar news 1/8SUG 3/8 All softs news 1/8SOF 3/8 Softs summary 1/8GLANCE/SOF 3/8 Index of summaries 1/8GLANCE/ 3/8 All commodities news 1/8C 3/8 Softs diary 1/8SOF/DIARY 3/8 Weather news 1/8WEA 3/8 Foreign exchange rates <FX=S> SPEED GUIDES <COMMODS> <SOFT1> <SUGAR1> <SUGAR/FUT1> <SUGAR/CASH1> <REUTERS> 15:04 02-07-00 Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited. |
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LIFFE white sugar sees gains erased by close LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - White sugar futures lost all their earlier gains aand ended with losses of around $1.00 a tonne in a sizeable turnvoer of 9,474 lots. Front March <LSUH0> ended at $172.90, down $0.60 from Friday, compared with a morning high of $179.50. Traders said heavy origin selling resistance in New York raws had reversed the market's direction and prompted liquidation here of some positions built up on the recent run-up of the past three days from $165 to $179.50. In the morning, March surged through resistance on a wave of trade and fund buying to $179.50 a tonne, the highest level since November 17, 1999, when it traded at $181.50. Second position May <LSUK0> ended $1.10 down at $174.40 as the nearby spread narrowed to a 60 cents discount at one stage, from $2.00 on Friday. The turnover was boosted by trade and fund buying and short-covering as well as some fund buying of the spread. Traders said that there has been substantial if unspectacular offtake from the Middle East, Far East (mainly Indonesia) and former soviet republics. The London daily whites price was marked up $6.50 a tonne to $177.60. 15:51 02-07-00 Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited. |
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Sugar Falls as Russia Plans Higher Duties Amid Weakening Demand New York, Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Sugar fell more than 2 percent, the first decline in three sessions, on expectations that Russian plans to increase import duties will slow demand from the world's biggest sugar importer. The Russian government proposed boosting tariffs in an effort to protect domestic producers at time when inventories are swelling. A world sugar glut has left prices 27 percent lower than a year ago. ``Russia's imports will certainly be less than last year,'' said Michael McDougall, a broker at Fimat Futures USA Inc. in New York. ``We're just not seeing any type of physical demand.'' Raw sugar for March delivery fell 0.13 cent, or 2.3 percent, to 5.43 cents a pound on the Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange in New York. Under a proposal made by the Russian government to the commission on customs and tariff policy, a duty of 10 percent would be imposed on the first 3 million tons of raw sugar imported this year, effective April 1, Russia's Interfax news agency reported. Any imports over that amount would be taxed at 30 percent. Duties on raw sugar were lowered to 5 percent from 45 percent in December, after the last harvest. Russia is expected to import as little as 4 million tons of raw sugar in 2000, down from an estimated 5.2 million to 5.5 million tons last year, ED&F Man Sugar Ltd. in London predicted before today's announcement. The reduced demand from Russia would come at a time when world sugar production during the crop year ending Sept 30 is expected to climb to a record level for a sixth straight year, reaching 133.9 million tons, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted in November. That would be up 2.5 percent from the year before. Big Inventories Russia already has 3 million tons of raw sugar in its stockpiles, about half the amount normally used by domestic processors in one year, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Shcherbak. ``As of right now, it's not only Russia but the rest of the world is just not buying,'' said Farideh Bromfield, an analyst at ED&F Man Sugar in London. ``Demand is very slack mainly because people stocked up last year'' as prices plunged. New York sugar futures reached a 14-year low of 3.93 cents a pound in April. On the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange, white, or refined, sugar for March delivery fell 90 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $168.70 a metric ton (7.65 cents a pound). Jan/21/2000 14:37 For more stories from Bloomberg News, click here. (C) Copyright 2000 Bloomberg L.P. |
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Russia Set to Limit Sugar Imports; '99 Output Rises 41% vs '98 Moscow, Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The Russian government plans to maintain tariff quotas for imported raw sugar to boost domestic production and consumption, even as the nation's 1999 raw sugar output rose 41 percent from a year earlier. The government commission on customs and tariff policy will review a new mechanism for regulating raw sugar imports on Jan. 24, after Russia produced 1.5 million tons of raw sugar in 1999, said Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Shcherbak. ``Russia's raw sugar output covers the entire domestic demand,'' said Shcherbak. ``We have 3 million tons of raw sugar stocks from last year, which is equal to half a year's internal consumption.'' Sugar fell to a seven-month low of $166.4 per ton this week in London because of low demand from Russia, normally the world's largest importer. Sugar was quoted at $169.3 per ton on the London Commodity Exchange today. Russia will import as little as 4 million metric tons of sugar in 2000, down from an estimated 5.2 million to 5.5 million tons last year, according to ED&F Man Sugar Ltd. in London. ``We are proposing to introduce tariff quotas for import operations, when companies have to pay special duties on sugar import after exceeding their quotas,'' said Shcherbak. The Russian government plans to introduce a 3 million-ton raw sugar quota for 2000 to be subjected to a 10 percent import duty but not less then 0.09 euro ($0.09) per kilogram beginning April 1, Russian news agency Interfax reported. Sugar imports outside the quota will be charged a 30 percent duty and 0.1 euro per kilogram. Currently, Russian customs charge a 5 percent duty quota on raw sugar imports, down from a 45 percent tax charged through September- November to protect domestic producers. Jan/21/2000 10:14 For more stories from Bloomberg News, click here. (C) Copyright 2000 Bloomberg L.P. |
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LIFFE sugar extends declines, ends near lows LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - White sugar futures reverted to the downside during late Tuesday LIFFE trading, and ended the day easier and close to fresh session lows. Traders said the market's mini-rally on trade buying was offset by fresh technical selling, and prices eased under nearby chart support, basis $167.00 on the front-month. March <LSUH0> ended at $166.30 a tonne, down $2.30, and close to a low of $166.10. Turnover totalled 5,141 lots, mostly in the front two months. In New York, raws are seen vulnerable to a decline towards the March contract low of 5.06 cents a lb with traders saying that Thailand's tender on January 27 to sell 292,000 tonnes of quota B raw sugar likely to pressure the market. Given London traders' bearish view on raws, the March whites premium over raws is seen widening to over $50 a tonne, from $48.93 currently. 16:42 01-18-00 Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited. |
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Sugar Falls to 7-Month Low on Expectations of Weakening Demand New York, Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Sugar fell almost 3 percent to a seven-month low on expectations that weakening demand from Russia, normally the world's largest importer, will swell unsold global supplies. Russia will import as little as 4 million metric tons of sugar in 2000, down from an estimated 5.2 million to 5.5 million tons last year, according to ED&F Man Sugar Ltd. in London. The reduced demand comes at a time when world sugar production is expected to climb to a record level for a sixth straight year. ``Russia bought more sugar than they needed last year,'' said Farideh Bromfield, an analyst at ED&F Man Sugar in London. ``That pace of demand is not sustainable.'' Raw sugar for March delivery fell 0.16 cent, or 2.9 percent, to 5.29 cents a pound on the Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange in New York, the lowest closing price for a most-active contract since June 9. Burgeoning world supply has left prices 31 percent lower than a year ago. The only reason prices haven't fallen more is strong domestic demand in Brazil, the world's biggest grower, Bromfield said. ``I think the market has to realize that it is not enough.'' Prices will have to fall to 5 cents a pound to stimulate demand, said Jack Scoville, vice president of trading at Price Futures Group in Chicago. World sugar output will reach a record 133.9 million tons in the crop year that began Oct. 1, up 2.6 percent from the year before, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted in November. Demand was expected to grow 3.7 percent to 130.5 million tons, leaving accumulated unsold supplies globally of 34.4 million tons on Sept. 30, the department said. Russia's increased buying last year left it with a stockpile estimated at 3.5 million tons at the end of 1999, said economist Sergei Gudoshnikov at the London-based International Sugar Organization, up from 1.6 million tons at the end of 1998. On the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange, white, or refined, sugar for March delivery fell $2.20, or 1.3 percent, to $166.40 a metric ton (7.55 cents a pound). Jan/18/2000 16:09 For more stories from Bloomberg News, click here. (C) Copyright 2000 Bloomberg L.P. |
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Physical Sugar - Buyers sidestep as prices plunge |
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| EU warns low world sugar prices threaten exports BRUSSELS, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The European Commission warned sugar traders it will not be able to meet its export target for this year if export subsidies are held at current levels, an EU member state official said on Thursday. "The Commission is warning that money is extremely tight with sugar due to the high level of the refund because world prices are so low," the official told Reuters. The official said the Commission issued a warning at Wednesday's EU sugar management committee meeting, saying there may not be enough money to meet its export target of 2.9 million tonnes this campaign (Aug/July) if refunds remain at current levels. On Wednesday the EU approved the export of 61,750 tonnes of current series white sugar at a maximum refund of 52.940 euros per 100 kg. That brought the cumulative total for 1999/2000 to 1,807,810 tonnes so far. A discussion of the annual submission of sugar statistics to the International Sugar Organisation had not yielded any firm conclusions, the official added. However, the panel did discuss the quarterly production refund it grants to the chemical industry for using sugar and was glad to note the industry made greater use of it last year. 09:50 01-13-00 Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited. |
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