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CSCE sugar settles tad up in quiet session

NEW YORK: CSCE sugar futures closed mostly firmer on Wednesday, with modest speculator interest giving raws a marginally positive sheen as the market dawdled after hitting a one-month high at the start of the week.

May sugar SBKO was the only loser, shedding 0.03 to end at 5.25 cents a lb, trading 5.35-5.18 cents.

Monday, the contract shot up 0.20 to finish at 5.42 cents a lb, the highest close for benchmark sugar since February 11 when it settled at 5.49 cents.

July inched up 0.02 to 5.33 cents and October gained 0.04 to 5.72 cents.

Back months finished unchanged.

"You're just getting mood swings among the locals. They buy it, they sell it. There's just no pattern to it today," a physical broker for an investment house in New York said.

Brokers said an early mix of local and origin sales dragged sugar down to its lows where it recovered on speculative, trade and destination interest.

The May contract then briefly poked above 5.30 cents before retreating on a lack of follow-through and light speculative liquidation, they said.

"It was slow for the most part," a floor trader said.

In bearish news, traders in Hong Kong said Wednesday that Thai millers will likely sell their sugar shortly so as not to clash with competing supply from Brazil, South Africa and Australia expected to hit the market in June and July.

Analysts said that would put further pressure on spot May since the Thais will be pricing their sugar against the front month rather than second position July or third month October.

"Once they begin pricing that, we'll likely head south in a hurry," one said.

The Trade and Industry Minister of Indonesia, Yusuf Kalla, said Wednesday Jakarta will maintain its import tariff for raw and white sugar at 20 and 25 percent, respectively.

Lithuania's government said it is imposing an 87 percent duty on sugar imports to protect domestic producers.

On a technical basis, dealers said they feel short-term resistance in May sugar remained intact at the 40-day moving average at 5.38, the 50-day moving average at 5.47 and then 5.50 cents.

They said support should be at 5.00 cents, 4.90, the contract low of 4.84 cents and then 4.50 cents.

Estimated total volume reached 16,656 lots, against the previous estimated volume of 21,812 lots.

Call volume touched an estimated 3,484 lots while put volume hit an estimated 2,610 lots.

The CSCE is a subsidiary of the New York Board of Trade.

-Reuters