Sugar Drops 20% in Two Days

Prices for sugar hit a 30-year high on Thursday at 33.39 cents per pound, however, by the end of the day, prices had dropped about 9.6% closing at 29.66 cents a pound and dropped another 11.6% on Friday to close the week at 26.21 cents per pound.

The drop in prices was sparked by the announcement that India appears to have a sugar surplus of about 3.5 million metric tons which should offset the impact of the drought-stricken harvest in Brazil, the world’s largest producer.

India’s announcement was about 3 times higher than what the market expected.  The final total, which determines how much sugar can be exported can be higher.  This decision will most likely be made sometime later this month.

China’s expected raise in interest rates also appears to be spooking the market for soft agricultural goods such as sugar, cocoa, coffee and cotton which all fell by at least 3 percent on Friday.