Greenback Weak spot Pushes Sugar Costs Larger

March NY world sugar #11 (SBH26) on Wednesday closed up +0.24 (+1.64%), and March London ICE white sugar #5 (SWH26) closed up +7.30 (+1.74%).

Sugar costs settled increased on Wednesday as greenback weak point (DXY00) sparked some short-covering in sugar futures.

Sugar costs have retreated over the previous week, falling to 3-week lows on Tuesday as a consequence of ramped-up manufacturing in India and Brazil.  Final Monday, the India Sugar Mill Affiliation (ISMA) reported that Indian sugar manufacturing from Oct-Nov jumped +43% y/y to 4.11 MMT.  The ISMA additionally reported that 428 sugar mills in India have been crushing cane as of November 30, up from 376 a yr in the past.

The outlook for document sugar output in Brazil can also be bearish for costs.  Conab, Brazil’s crop forecasting company, on November 4 raised its Brazil 2025/26 sugar manufacturing estimate to 45 MMT from a earlier forecast of 44.5 MMT.  Final Monday, Unica reported that Brazil’s Middle-South sugar output within the first half of November rose by +8.7% y/y to 983 MT.  Additionally, cumulative 2025-26 Middle-South sugar output by means of mid-November rose by +2.1% y/y to 39.179 MMT.

On the bearish aspect for sugar, the Worldwide Sugar Group (ISO) on November 17 forecast a 1.625 million MT sugar surplus in 2025-26, following a 2.916 million MT deficit in 2024-25.  ISO mentioned the excess is being pushed by elevated sugar manufacturing in India, Thailand, and Pakistan.  In August, ISO had beforehand forecast a 231,000 MT deficit for the 2025-26 advertising yr.  ISO is forecasting a +3.2% y/y rise in world sugar manufacturing to 181.8 million MT in 2025-26.

The outlook for strong world sugar provides has hammered sugar costs since early October.  On November 13, London sugar posted a 4.75-year nearest-futures low (SWZ25), and on November 6, NY sugar costs slumped to a 5-year nearest-futures low (SBH26), primarily as a consequence of increased sugar output in Brazil and discuss of a world sugar surplus.  Sugar dealer Czarnikow on November 5 boosted its world 2025/26 sugar surplus estimate to eight.7 MMT, up +1.2 MMT from a September estimate of seven.5 MMT.

Indicators of a bigger sugar crop in India, the world’s second-largest producer, are undercutting costs after the India Sugar Mill Affiliation (ISMA) on November 11 raised its 2025/26 India sugar manufacturing estimate to 31 MMT from an earlier forecast of 30 MMT, up +18.8% y/y.  The ISMA additionally lower its estimate for sugar used for ethanol manufacturing in India to three.4 MMT from a July forecast of 5 MMT, which can enable India to spice up its sugar exports.

The outlook for increased sugar exports from India is unfavorable for sugar costs, as ample monsoon rains could produce a bumper sugar crop.  On September 30, India’s Meteorological Division reported that cumulative monsoon rainfall as of that date was 937.2 mm, 8% above regular, marking the strongest monsoon in 5 years.  On June 2, India’s Nationwide Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories projected that India’s 2025/26 sugar manufacturing would climb +19% y/y to 34.9 MMT, citing bigger planted cane acreage.  That may comply with a -17.5% y/y decline in India’s sugar manufacturing in 2024/25 to a 5-year low of 26.1 MMT, in keeping with the Indian Sugar Mills Affiliation (ISMA).

Sugar costs have help from November 14, when India’s meals ministry mentioned it will enable mills to export 1.5 MMT of sugar within the 2025/26 season, under earlier estimates of two MMT.  India launched a quota system for sugar exports in 2022/23 after late rain lowered manufacturing and restricted home provides.

The outlook for increased sugar manufacturing in Thailand is bearish for costs.  The Thai Sugar Millers Corp on October 1 projected that Thailand’s 2025/26 sugar crop will enhance by +5% y/y to 10.5 MMT.  On Could 2, Thailand’s Workplace of the Cane and Sugar Board reported that Thailand’s 2024/25 sugar manufacturing rose +14% y/y to 10.00 MMT.  Thailand is the world’s third-largest sugar producer and the second-largest exporter.

The USDA, in its bi-annual report launched Could 22, projected that world 2025/26 sugar manufacturing would climb +4.7% y/y to a document 189.318 MMT and that world 2025/26 human sugar consumption would enhance +1.4% y/y to a document 177.921 MMT.  The USDA additionally forecast that 2025/26 world sugar ending shares would climb by +7.5% y/y to 41.188 MMT.  The USDA’s Overseas Agricultural Service (FAS) predicted that Brazil’s 2025/26 sugar manufacturing would rise by 2.3% y/y to a document 44.7 MMT.  FAS additionally predicted that India’s 2025/26 sugar manufacturing would enhance by 25% y/y to 35.3 MMT, pushed by favorable monsoon rains and elevated sugar acreage.  As well as, FAS predicted that Thailand’s 2025/26 sugar manufacturing will enhance by +2% y/y to 10.3 MMT.

On the date of publication, Wealthy Asplund didn’t have (both immediately or not directly) positions in any of the securities talked about on this article. All info and knowledge on this article is solely for informational functions. This text was initially revealed on Barchart.com