Raw Sugar Rises as Lower India Output Dims Export Hopes

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(Bloomberg) -- Raw sugar gained after India’s sugar industry group reported lower production, which could support continued export restrictions.

The most-active contract rose as much as 3.3% to 19.90 cents a pound in New York, edging higher from a September low earlier this week. The Indian Sugar and Bio-Energy Manufacturers Association on Thursday reported a 16% drop in sugar production for the current season compared with a year earlier.

Lower output could signal that the world’s second largest producer may continue to limit shipments this year. Sugar producers in the country are still hoping to export sugar, but their forecasted domestic demand figures are below other market estimates, according to a note from Mike McDougall, an analyst at McDougall Global View. Indian sugar millers have sought the government’s permission to export surplus supplies.

Meanwhile, robusta coffee gained as much as 4.6% to $5,100 a ton in London as persistent showers in top grower Vietnam disrupt harvesting. Developing La Niña conditions are bringing wetter weather to growing areas in Asia and Central America, analysts at ADM Investor Services wrote in a note on Tuesday.

Farmers in Vietnam are beginning to build up stockpiles, but the typical increase in exports ahead of the Lunar New Year in late January may be “more measured” as producers are “relatively well financed” after bean prices surged in 2024, according to a Thursday note from coffee trader I&M Smith Ltd.

In other agricultural commodities, wheat in Chicago fell as much as 1.6%, retreating after four straight sessions of gains. Meanwhile, Paris wheat earlier climbed to a fresh six-month high amid concerns over tighter supplies and a weaker euro. The increase adds to last year’s gain of almost 7% that saw prices diverge from US markets.

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