Forexpros – U.S. sugar and coffee futures were higher during early U.S. morning trade on Thursday, with sugar prices bouncing off a 12-month low, while cotton prices were largely unchanged as traders awaited next week’s U.S. government report on world supply and demand estimates.
On the ICE Futures U.S. Exchange, sugar futures for July delivery traded at USD0.2073 a pound during early U.S. morning trade, gaining 0.9%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.1% to trade at a session high of USD0.2077 a pound. Prices fell to USD0.2050 a pound on Wednesday, the lowest since May 6, 2011.
Prices are down approximately 43% since hitting a three-decade high of USD0.3594 in February of last year.
Sugar prices have been under pressure in recent weeks, losing nearly 22% since March 20, as increasing competition for U.S. exports and ample global supplies have been dominating sentiment.
On Wednesday, India announced that it would free its sugar exports from any quantity restrictions for the time being, according to a senior government official. However, the government is likely to cap the shipments once a total of 4.0 million tons sugar is reached during the marketing year ending September 30, he said.
So far, the government had permitted a total of 3.0 million metric tons of sugar exports in 2011-12.
India’s sugar output in the 2011-12 season is expected to total between 25 million and 26 million metric tons, the second consecutive year in which there will be a surplus in the world’s second-largest producer and consumer of the sweetener.
Meanwhile, Arabica coffee for July delivery traded at USD1.8343 a pound during early U.S. morning trade, climbing 0.93%. It earlier rose by as much as 1.05% to trade at a session high of USD1.8368 a pound.
Prices fell to an 18-month low of USD1.7390 a pound on April 16, as traders eyed a huge harvest in top grower Brazil and speculators pushed prices lower.
However, coffee futures have moved higher since, gaining nearly 5.5%, amid concerns over Colombia’s mid-crop harvest.
Colombia is the world’s second largest coffee bean producer. Arabica is grown mainly in Latin America and brewed by specialty companies.
Elsewhere on the ICE Futures U.S. Exchange, cotton futures for July delivery traded at USD0.8938 a pound, easing down 0.15%.
The July contract traded in a range of USD0.8972 a pound, the daily high and a session low of USD0.8914 a pound.
Cotton prices are expected to hold in a tight range in the coming week, as traders were already eyeing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supply and Demand Report for May, scheduled for release on May 10.
The report will show the first estimate of market conditions in the coming 2012/13 marketing season, which begins in August 2012 and ends in July 2013.
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