Raw sugar futures extended their downward trend and slumped to under 20 cents per pound in April, the lowest since January 2023, amid a strong dollar and ample supplies from the world’s top producers. Forecasts of rainfall in Brazil’s center-south regions erased previous worries that dry weather would hamper the incoming crop for the world’s top producer and exporter. This magnified optimism on ample supply after data from industry group Unica showed that sugar production in the region surged by 25.7% so far this marketing year. Coupled with strong supply, the plunge in the Brazilian real allowed local farmers to decrease prices to favor a greater volume of sales. Still, elevated fuel prices limited the retreat, as the rally for crude oil benchmarks drove sugar ethanol prices in Brazil to surge to a 10-month high, motivating cane producers to allocate crops for biofuel blending instead of sugar crushing.
Sugar decreased 0.88 Cents/LB or 4.28% since the beginning of 2024, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. Historically, Sugar reached an all time high of 65.20 in November of 1974. Sugar - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on April 19 of 2024.
Sugar decreased 0.88 Cents/LB or 4.28% since the beginning of 2024, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. Sugar is expected to trade at 19.67 Cents/LB by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 18.21 in 12 months time.