Sugar prices sweep higher on concerns about tightening supplies with holiday season ahead

Sugar prices sweep higher on supply concerns

Sugar prices swept higher Monday as traders speculated that lingering weather problems will keep global supplies tight just ahead of the holiday season in Western countries.

Sugar for October delivery rose 0.65 cent, or 2.6 percent, to settle Monday at 26.09 cents a pound.

The most recent rally was triggered by monsoons that raised concerns about the crop in India, one of the world’s biggest sugar producers, said Spencer Patton, founder and chief investment officer for hedge fund Steel Vine Investments LLC. Supplies are tightening as more countries take delivery of sugar, Patton said.

Sugar had also rallied earlier this month when rains caused delayed shipments from Brazil.

In metals trading, gold for December delivery was little changed, settling up 50 cents at $1,298.60 an ounce after hitting $1,301.30 an ounce earlier in the day.

The price likely will hover around $1,300 an ounce for a while as investors turn to the precious metals as a safe haven, said George Gero, vice president at RBC Global Futures in New York.

In other metals contracts for December, silver rose 7.2 cents to settle at $21.471 an ounce and copper fell 2.1 cents to settle at $3.5970 a pound. September palladium lost $7.80 to settle at $550.70 and October platinum dropped $9.70 to settle at $1,630.10 a pound.

Gero said the industrial metals were pressured by worries about slowing global economic growth.

Energy prices were mixed as traders watched the stock market for clues about the pace of economic growth. Many awaited the next reports on economic developments, including U.S. consumer confidence, due Tuesday, and second-quarter gross domestic products on Thursday.

Benchmark oil for November delivery rose 3 cents to settle at $76.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other Nymex trading in October contracts, heating oil fell 0.78 cent to settle at $2.1228 a gallon, gasoline added 0.17 cent to $1.9488 a gallon and natural gas lost 8.1 cents to $3.800 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Corn, wheat and soybeans were mixed.

December wheat lost 13.5 cents to settle at $7.0650 a bushel; December corn slipped 9 cents to $5.1275 a bushel and November soybeans added 2.5 cents to $11.2850 a bushel.