U.S. soft futures mixed; sugar re-approaches 3-1/2-year low

Investing.com

Published Jan 08, 2014 07:46AM ET

Sugar prices re-approache 3-1/2-year low

Investing.com - U.S. soft futures were mixed on Wednesday, with sugar prices re-approaching the lowest level since July 2010 as investors continued to focus on massive global supplies of the sweetener.

On the ICE Futures U.S. Exchange, sugar futures for March delivery traded at USD0.1590 a pound, down 1.3%. Prices of the sweetener fell by as much as 1.4% earlier in the day to hit a session low of USD0.1588 a pound, the weakest level since December 18.

The March contract ended Tuesday’s session down 0.12% to settle at USD0.1606 a pound.

Sugar prices have been on a downward trend in recent months as market players focused on prospects for increased production out of Brazil and Thailand. Prices of the sweetener fell to a three-and-a-half-year low of USD0.1586 a pound on December 18.

Meanwhile, Arabica coffee for March delivery traded at USD1.1830 a pound, up 0.7%. The March Arabica contract traded in a range between USD1.1765 a pound and USD1.1883 a pound.

Coffee prices have been well-supported in recent sessions as investors closed out bets on lower prices, a move known as short-covering. The March contract surged to USD1.2260 a pound on Tuesday, the highest since August 19, before turning sharply lower to settle at USD1.1725 a pound, down 3.1%, as a round of profit-taking kicked in.

Elsewhere, cotton futures for March delivery traded at USD0.8430 a pound, down 0.45%. Cotton prices held in a tight range between USD0.8402 a pound and USD0.8466 a pound. The March contract settled 1.24% higher on Tuesday to end at USD0.8467 a pound.

Cotton traders looked ahead to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s closely-watched monthly supply-demand report due on Friday.

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