Raw, White Sugar Futures May Decline This Week, Survey Shows

By Ron Day and Claudia Carpenter

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Raw and white sugar futures may decline this week, according to a survey.

Four of nine traders, analysts and brokers surveyed last week forecast a decline in raw sugar traded in New York. Three expect an increase and two said the price wouldn't change. Raw sugar for March delivery fell 3 percent to 13.64 cents a pound last week.

Three of seven said white, or refined, sugar traded in London would decline. Two predicted a gain and two expect little change. White sugar for December delivery dropped 2.5 percent to $376.30 a metric ton last week.

Three people in the survey said the premium of refined sugar over raw would narrow, and two predicted it would widen. The premium narrowed to $75.59 a ton on Sept. 19 from $76.03 a ton a week earlier.

Bullish on raw sugar: 3 Bearish: 4 Neutral: 2
Bullish on white sugar: 2 Bearish: 3 Neutral: 2
Widening white premium: 2 Narrow: 3 Neutral: 1

To contact the reporters on this story: Ron Day in New York at rday1@bloomberg.net; Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net