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terça-feira, 24 de setembro de 2013

Lower Brazil Output Lifts Sugar to More-Than-Four-Month High

  NEW YORK - Raw-sugar futures ended at the highest price in more than four
months Tuesday after an industry-group report showed a decline in output from
Brazil, the world's top producer of the sweetener.
  Raw sugar for delivery in October on ICE Futures U.S. rose 1% to end at 17.42
cents a pound, the highest settlement since May 10. Sugar for delivery in March
rose 1% to settle at 17.93 cents a pound, the highest point since April 12.
  Futures prices extended earlier gains after the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry
Association, or Unica, reported that sugar production slipped 5.6% in the first
two weeks of September from the same period of 2012 to close to three million
tons, while ethanol production increased 4% to 1.8 billion liters.
  A global glut of sugar had driven down prices this year, encouraging
Brazilian mills to process more ethanol over sugar. From the beginning of the
season in April to mid-September, mills have used 55% of the harvested cane for
ethanol and 45% for sugar, compared with 50.5% for ethanol and 49.5% at the
same point last year, Unica data showed.
  Brazilian consulting firm Datagro estimates that millers will process a
record amount of sugar cane this year, but output will fall below last year's
level. Plinio Nastari, the firm's president, said Brazil's sugar output would
likely total 37.93 metric tons this season, down from 38.18 metric tons last
year.
  Futures of orange-juice concentrate for November delivery briefly entered
bear-market territory, falling more than 20% from the May 30 settlement high. A
quiet Atlantic hurricane season and waning demand for orange juice had pushed
prices lower.
  But prices rebounded in the afternoon, rising 1% on the day to $1.2760 a
pound, the highest settlement since Sept. 16.
  James Cordier, president of Tampa, Fla.-based Liberty Trading Group, said
traders were likely bargain hunting after prices had dropped. He said the
market had been "underpriced." With Tuesday's bounce, prices are down 9% from a
Sept. 13 peak of $1.4020.
  Cocoa for December fell 0.3% to end at $2,603 a ton. Arabica coffee for
December rose 0.7% to end at $1.1785 a pound.
  December-delivery cotton gained 0.1% to settle at 84.38 cents a pound.
Brazil Coffee/Citrus/Cane
   Dry conditions or just a few light showers observed. Temperatures above
normal with highs in the middle 80s to low 90s f.

Coffee/Citrus/Cane Forecast
    Dry conditions or just a few light showers today. Dry weather
Wednesday-Friday. Dry conditions or just a few light showers Saturday. Episodes
of scattered showers and thunderstorms on Sunday and Monday. Light to moderate
amounts with locally heavier expected. Temperatures near to below normal
through Thursday, near to above normal Friday-Sunday, near to below normal on
Monday.


WORLD COFFEE PROSPECTS

    Episodes of scattered showers and thunderstorms in Sao Paulo and Minas
Gerias Brazil during the next 7 days will initiate some early flowering of the
trees.
    Drier weather would benefit the maturing crop in southern Mexico and
Central America.
    The main crop harvest in Colombia gets underway in September. Conditions
are mostly favorable.
    Rains through Vietnam may cause delays to the early harvest of coffee
through the central highlands.
Arabica-Coffee Futures Edge Up as Short-Covering Continues
Alexandra Wexler

  NEW YORK  -  Arabica-coffee futures extended their gains Tuesday morning as
short-covering continued to boost prices.
  "It still looks like short-covering right now, so I'm a little apprehensive
to say that we're turning this thing around," said Hector Galvan, senior broker
at RJO Futures in Chicago. "It almost looks like we could be in the red in the
next 20 or 30 minutes."
  Arabica coffee for December delivery on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange was
recently 0.5% higher at $1.1765 a pound, down from an intraday high of $1.1840
a pound.
   Brazilian coffee growers are expected to harvest 47.5 million 60-kilogram
(132-pound) bags of coffee this year, a record for an "off-year" harvest,
government crop agency Conab said this month.
  Traders say those big supplies should cap rallies around $1.20 a pound, a key
technical and psychological level.
Cocoa Steady as Market Pauses After Recent Gains; Wheat Firms
Neena Rai

  Cocoa futures were steady in early European trading Tuesday as the market
took a pause after the recent strong gains buoyed by weather concerns in West
Africa and higher demand, while European wheat futures edged higher.
  At 1015 GMT, December cocoa futures traded 0.1% higher at 1,705 pounds
($2,733.56) a metric ton. Last Tuesday, futures hit a one-year high of GBP1,729
a ton.
  Francisco Redruello, senior food analyst at market research firm Euromonitor
International in London, said concerns over the size and quality of West
Africa's main crop have supported the recent rally.
  "The increase in consumer confidence over the last year has supported
chocolate demand, in particular dark chocolate which is more intensive in cocoa
beans," said Mr. Redruello.
  "With cocoa stock levels at Liffe not exactly brimming, prices will need to
stay high to encourage greater production amongst the second-tier producing
countries, as well as to ration grindings. As stocks start getting drawn down
over the next two seasons, we see cocoa remaining an outperformer in 2014,"
said Macquarie Bank in a report.
  November European Union wheat futures ticked 0.1% higher to 187.25 euros
($253.08) a ton, with gains capped by a stronger euro and high production
levels of the grain in the Black Sea region.
  Wheat prices in Russia were steady or rose slightly last week, the farm
markets research firm SovEcon said Monday.
  The average producer gate price of grade 3 milling wheat increased by 50
rubles ($1.57) to RUB7,175/ton including value-added tax. The price of grade 4
milling wheat stayed at RUB6,675/ton. The price of grade 5 feed wheat increased
by RUB25 to RUB5,750/ton.
  Elswehere, robusta coffee futures consolidated from the prior session's
losses. November robusta coffee futures traded 0.1% higher at $1,689 a ton.
Brokers said price gains continue to be limited by weakness in New York's
arabica market and by expectations of a bumper crop out of Vietnam.
  December Liffe sugar futures traded 0.2% higher at $486.80 a ton,
consolidating from the prior session's sell-off.
  "The initial sell-off seemed driven by the latest CFTC (Commodity Futures
Trading Commission) report, which showed speculative investors hold a modestly
large net long position, despite the relatively subdued fundamental outlook.
Nevertheless, there was little fresh fundamental news over the weekend to
justify the sell-off, which might help explain why prices recovered throughout
the session," said Luke Mathews, analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Austrailia.
Em dia de viés corretivo, café consegue bom ganho na ICE

  Os contratos futuros de café arábica negociados na ICE Futures US encerraram esta segunda-feira com ganhos, em uma sessão de relativa tranquilidade e que foi caracterizada por uma movimentação corretiva, com compras especulativas sendo registradas ao longo da maior parte do pregão. Com isso, o dezembro conseguiu se manter ligeiramente acima do referencial psicológico de 115,00 centavos, que vinha sendo a base de "flutuação" do primeiro contrato após o teste dos menores níveis de 49 meses ocorrido recentemente.

Operadores sustentaram que o mercado atual é notadamente sobrevendido e que, diante desse cenário, algumas correções técnicas são necessárias, o que redunda em recompras como as verificadas ao longo desta segunda-feira. No relatório dos traders divulgado na última sexta-feira pela CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), o que se notou foi um aumento sensível das posições vendidas dos fundos, até o dia 17 passado. De acordo com a Comissão, os grandes fundos possuíam 19.439 posições líquidas vendidas, ao passo que no dia 10 de setembro eles tinham em mãos 17.583 posições líquidas vendidas. Esse volume considerável de posições abre o leque para correções, ainda que aquelas executadas até o momento sejam apenas pontuais.

No espectro mais amplo, o mercado continua a gravitar em cima das especulações sobre a disponibilidade do grão. A cada dia, operadores avaliam que o volume a ser colocado nas mesas de comercialização deve ser consistente, com os dois maiores players mundiais — Brasil e Vietnã — tendo uma produção das mais relevantes, o que compensaria tranquilamente a quebra dos centro-americanos, que são afetados pela ferrugem do colmo.

No encerramento do dia em Nova Iorque, a posição dezembro teve alta de 240 pontos, com 117,05 centavos de dólar por libra peso, com a máxima em 117,45 centavos e a mínima de 114,65 centavos, com o março registrando valorização de 240 pontos, com 120,15 centavos por libra, com a máxima em 120,55 centavos e a mínima em 118,00 centavos. Na Euronext/Liffe, em Londres, a posição novembro teve valorização de 10 dólares, com 1.688 dólares por tonelada, com o janeiro tendo ganho de 12 dólares, para o nivel de 1.685 dólares por tonelada.

De acordo com analistas internacionais, o dia foi marcado por algumas correções pontuais e recompras, diante de um quadro sobrevendido que se arrasta já há algum tempo, com o primeiro contrato chegando, inclusive, a tocar nas mínimas de 49 meses. Com essa posição corretiva, o segmento externo teve pouca influência para o café. As bolsas de valores caíram ao longo do dia e o dólar teve apenas ligeiro avanço em relação a uma cesta de moedas internacionais, ainda que no confronto com o real, a moeda brasileira tenha apresentado um novo e consistente ganho. A maior parte das commodities teve uma segunda-feira sem um direcionamento concreto, com quedas para petróleo, cacau, açúcar e soja, mas avanços para café, trigo, suco de laranja e milho.

"Diante de um quadro que se arrasta por semanas e mais semanas com preços bastante deprimidos, algumas ações de recompras técnicas são esperadas. Esse tipo de movimentação não tem uma base das mais sólidas, portanto, é bom acompanhar de perto as cotações e avaliar se elas terão fôlego suficiente, sem um acompanhamento fundamental, para sustentar um intervalo que seja mais consistente que o do referencial recente, que era de 115,00 centavos por libra", disse um trader.

"As torrefadoras têm participado da compra do terminal quando novas baixas acontecem, mas em volume insuficiente para evitar a queda. Na Liffe, um grande volume de calls (opções de compras) foi negociado na semana, com mais de 13.000 contratos de compra entre os strikes de 1.700 e 1.800 das opções de novembro – squeeze a vista? Tecnicamente, os gráficos apontam para mais baixas para as duas principais bolsas do café, com o 'C' indicando testar os 110,00 centavos e o robusta buscando o suporte de 1.600 dólares", sustentou Rodrigo Corrêa da Costa, da Archer Consulting.

Especialistas da Costa do Marfim ajudarão a República de Camarões a aumentar a produção de café por meio do plantio de espécies híbridas. A meta é dobrar ou até triplicar a produção de café robusta e arábica até 2015, apontou o secretário executivo do Conselho Interprofissional de Cacau e Café de Camarões, Omer Gatien Maledi, depois de uma reunião com o embaixador marfinense em Camarões, Adama Dosso. Além da introdução de espécies híbridas em novas propriedades, plantas antigas, que demoram cerca de cinco anos para começar a dar frutos, serão substituídas por mudas híbridas, que devem levar apenas dez meses para crescer.

As exportações brasileiras no mês de setembro, até o dia 19, totalizaram 10767.438 sacas de café, alta de 18,76% em relação às 898.798 sacas embarcadas no mesmo período do mês anterior, de acordo com informações do Cecafé (Conselho dos Exportadores de Café do Brasil).

Os estoques certificados de café na bolsa de Nova Iorque tiveram alta de 685 sacas, indo para 2.777.930 sacas. O volume negociado no dia na ICE Futures US foi estimado em 16.395 lotes, com as opções tendo 1.978 calls e 1.719 puts — floor mais eletrônico. Tecnicamente, o dezembro na ICE Futures US tem resistência em 117,45, 117,50, 118,00, 118,50, 119,00, 119,20, 119,50, 119,90-120,00, 120,50, 120,75, 121,00-121,05, 121,10, 121,50, 122,00, 122,50, 122,20, 122,50, 122,75, 123,00 e 123,50 centavos de dólar, com o suporte em 114,65, 114,50, 114,20, 114,00-113,95, 113,50, 113,00, 112,50, 112,00, 111,50, 111,00, 110,50, 110,10-110,00, 109,50, 109,00, 108,50, 108,00 e 107,50 centavos.




Londres tem dia de poucos negócios e de ganhos leves

  Os contratos futuros de café robusta negociados na Euronext/Liffe encerraram esta segunda-feira com ganhos modestos, em uma sessão calma e de poucos negócios. As altas vieram, principalmente, de operações de arbitragem, com a bolsa britânica seguindo os ganhos verificados para os arábicas na bolsa de Nova Iorque.

De acordo com analistas internacionais, a sessão do dia foi marcado por algumas compras especulativas, que permitiram um avanço considerável dos preços, principalmente diante de um volume baixo de negócios. Ao longo do dia, o novembro chegou a ser cotado no nível de 1.695 dólares por tonelada. Nas máximas, no entanto, algumas realizações e vendas de origens fizeram com que uma desaceleração natural fosse produzida.

"Tivemos uma sessão muito calma, com um volume de negócios abaixo da média recente da bolsa londrina. Mesmo em um dia em que as altas poderiam ser mais consistentes, por conta da influência das arbitragens, o que verificamos foi apenas um 'espasmo', com os vendedores continuando a serem consistentes no direcionamento dos preços", disse um trader.

O novembro teve uma movimentação ao longo do dia de 4,14 mil contratos, contra 1,35 mil do janeiro. O spread entre as posições novembro e janeiro ficou em 3 dólares. No encerramento do dia, o novembro teve valorização de 10 dólares, com 1.688 dólares por tonelada, com o janeiro tendo ganho de 12 dólares, para o nível de 1.685 dólares por tonelada.





Suspense em bancos com fim do prazo sobre commodities

  O futuro dos negócios de commodities do Goldman Sachs e Morgan Stanley enfrenta ainda mais incerteza depois que um importante prazo para que eles adaptassem suas negociações físicas às normas dos Estados Unidos venceu neste final de semana, sem qualquer comentário do Federal Reserve, o banco central norte-americano.

O silêncio do Fed deixa os dois bancos ainda mais inseguros acerca da possibilidade de continuarem detendo e operando ativos de commodities físicas, que vão de usinas de energia a depósitos de metais. Os bancos se perguntam se esta questão de longa data estaria agora inclusa em uma revisão mais ampla do Fed sobre o papel de Wall Street nos mercados físicos.

Os bancos têm discutido o problema com o Fed a portas fechadas por cinco anos, desde que se converteram a instituições reguladas pelo Fed no auge da crise financeira, em setembro de 2008. Bancos comerciais rivais não podem ser proprietários de tais ativos. Em julho, porém, o papel de Wall Street na negociação de commodities físicas subitamente ficou sujeito a um exame minucioso em Washington em meio a uma série de investigações cíveis e criminais, incluindo acusações sobre os bancos terem inflacionado artificialmente os preços em alguns mercados, elevando o custo das latas de alumínio.

Essa questão pode ter uma definição nas audiências do Comitê Bancário do Senado dos EUA no mês que vem, quando o Fed e os bancos devem dar testemunho. A proximidade das duas datas levou à especulação de que o Fed poderia fazer um anúncio sobre sua revisão logo. Mesmo assim, o silêncio do Fed no vencimento do prazo de 21 de setembro veio como uma surpresa para alguns.

"Algo similar a uma ordem do Fed podia ser esperado a menos que os bancos tivessem um indício muito forte --formal ou informalmente-- de que está tudo ok para que eles continuem a deter esses ativos", disse Saule Omarova, um professor de direito convidado na Cornell University, no sábado. "Dada a seriedade da questão e a atenção pública é surpreendente que o Fed não tenha anunciado que estaria agrupando isso na revisão formal que anunciaram em julho. A ambiguidade persiste."



Média de NY dos últimos 40 anos é de 123,3 cents

  Os consumidores da Austrália estão reclamando sobre o preço cobrado pela xícara de café. o mesmo valor de dois anos atrás. “ O preço do café está mergulhando por dois anos sem uma gota da queda de tocar os lábios nas cafeteiras australianos” diz consumidor. E se isso não bastasse, o preço do chocolate está em ascensão novamente com grãos de cacau até 25 por cento a partir de sua baixa no início deste ano. O que você não ganhar o café, você perde no chocolate. Os preços do café atingiram um pico em 2011 e têm sido resfriamento desde então. Futuros de café dos EUA caíram em um terço neste período do ano passado e são cerca metade do seu nível de setembro de 2011. No entanto, em 115 centavos de dólar por libra, o café não está muito longe de sua média de 40 anos de 123,3 centavos. Segundo à negociação Economia, café atingiu um pico de 339,9 centavos de dólar em 1977. Coffee viu uma baixa recorde de 42,5 centavos de dólar, em 2001, da qual foi uma recuperação lenta ao alto 2011


segunda-feira, 23 de setembro de 2013

Front-Month Raw Sugar Ends at Near 6-Week High; Arabica Gains
  NEW YORK  -  Raw-sugar futures rose to a near six-week high settlement on Monday
as rains in No. 1 grower Brazil slowed the country's sugar-cane harvest.
  Rains delay the crop because heavy harvesting and transporting equipment
can't enter the sugar-cane fields when they are soggy.
  "So far, there is not much damage (to the harvest), but there are more rains
coming in," which could stop work again, said Alex Oliveira, a senior analyst
at brokerage Newedge in New York.
  Front-month raw sugar for October delivery on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange
ended 0.4% higher at 17.25 cents a pound, the highest close since Aug. 14. The
more actively traded contract for delivery in March ended 0.1% higher at 17.76
cents a pound, the highest settlement for that contract since June 27.
  However, action in the market has been quiet, and with a record global
surplus forecast for this season, traders don't expect a big rally anytime
soon.
  "We have more adrenaline now watching Bambi than following this market," said
Arnaldo Luiz Correa, director at Archer Consulting, in a note.
  ICE arabica coffee for delivery in December gained 2.1% to settle at $1.1705
a pound, a one-week high, as that market got a boost from traders closing bets
that prices would fall. Futures ended last week at a more than four-year low on
expectations for massive supplies.
  Brazilian growers are expected to harvest 47.5 million 60-kilogram
(132-pound) bags of coffee this year, a record for an "off-year" harvest,
government crop agency Conab said earlier this month.
  But with arabica prices down 38% from a year ago, some traders are wagering
that the market has hit bottom.
  "We are starting to see a little buying," said Joe Ricupero, vice president
at brokerage RJO Futures in New York. "But people are going to wait for a
breakout before they really put on positions."
  Cocoa for December delivery ticked 0.1% higher to $2,610 a ton as stockpiles
in the ICE-certified warehouse dwindled to the lowest level in nearly seven
months. Orange juice for delivery in November ended up 0.6% at $1.2630 a pound,
while cotton for December delivery eased 0.3% to 84.27 cents a pound in thin
trade.

  However, action in the market has been quiet, and with a record global
surplus forecast for this season, traders don't expect a big rally anytime
soon.
  "We have more adrenaline now watching Bambi than following this market," said
Arnaldo Luiz Correa, director at Archer Consulting, in a note.
  ICE arabica coffee for delivery in December gained 2.1% to settle at $1.1705
a pound, a one-week high, as that market got a boost from traders closing bets
that prices would fall. Futures ended last week at a more than four-year low on
expectations for massive supplies.
  Brazilian growers are expected to harvest 47.5 million 60-kilogram
(132-pound) bags of coffee this year, a record for an "off-year" harvest,
government crop agency Conab said earlier this month.
  But with arabica prices down 38% from a year ago, some traders are wagering
that the market has hit bottom.
  "We are starting to see a little buying," said Joe Ricupero, vice president
at brokerage RJO Futures in New York. "But people are going to wait for a
breakout before they really put on positions."
  Cocoa for December delivery ticked 0.1% higher to $2,610 a ton as stockpiles
in the ICE-certified warehouse dwindled to the lowest level in nearly seven
months. Orange juice for delivery in November ended up 0.6% at $1.2630 a pound,
while cotton for December delivery eased 0.3% to 84.27 cents a pound in thin
trade.
Cocoa Edges Higher As Market Eyes Weather, Demand
Neena Rai

  Cocoa futures rose slightly in early European trading Monday, with dealers
watching the weather in top-producing West Africa while keeping in mind a
recent surge in demand for the chocolate-making ingredient.
  At 0950 GMT, Liffe cocoa futures for December delivery traded 0.3% higher at
GBP1,706 a metric ton. Last Tuesday, futures hit a one-year high of GBP1,729 a
ton.
  Matt Bradbard, vice president of Managed Futures and Alternatives at RCM
Asset Management, expects this won't last.
  "Extreme dry weather in West Africa, a key growing area, and
higher-than-expected demand for chocolate has lifted cocoa to one-year highs
but the likelihood of further advances are decreasing."
  He expects a setback in the near future and for the market to improve toward
the end of the year.
  West Africa produces 70% of the world's crop.
  Robusta coffee futures slipped as weak New York arabica prices and
expectations of a large crop out of top producer Vietnam weighed on the market.
November robusta coffee futures traded 0.3% lower at $1,672 a ton.
  "Global coffee prices continue to fall in light of excess capacity and
sliding currencies while the demand struggles to recover," said Rao Achutuni,
president of agricultural research firm EGSI consulting.
  He said slow economic growth in the European Union sapped demand and led to
huge surpluses. The 28-nation bloc consumes more than a third of the world's
agricultural commodities.
  In other commodities, December London sugar futures slipped 0.6% to $483.50 a
ton as technical charts signal further consolidation could lie ahead this week.
November European wheat futures fell 0.15 to EUR185.50 a ton.
  "The European markets are under the pressure of a strong euro. Wheat and corn
markets are quoting to a month low level, the bullish movement observed in
August seems to be forgotten," risk manager Agritel said.
  "European operators are monitoring the crop development in the Black Sea
area, where the rains are hampering the harvests. Corn imports in Europe are
expected to be high, with prices which remain attractive and weighing on French
prices," it added.
Huge hedge fund wheat bets 'limit price downside'
23rd Sept 2013

The extent of hedge funds' negative positioning on wheat has got so large that it may limit their appetite for more, brokers warned, even as prices outperformed those of fellow grains.
Managed money, a proxy for speculators, reduced its net long position in futures and options in the main 13 US-traded agricultural commodities by nearly 29,000 contracts in the week to last Tuesday, analysis of data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulator shows.
The reduction came despite a continued and dramatic rebuilding by hedge funds of a net long position in raw sugar futures and options, and an increase in their record bets on rising lean hog prices.
However, in grains, hedge funds extended positioning for falling prices to levels which – in Chicago wheat – approached historic highs, ringing alarm bells over the potential for further short bets.

Record harvest
Indeed, hedge funds raised their net short – the level to which short bets, which profit when values fall, exceed long holdings, which benefit when prices rise – to 50,882 contracts, a level beaten only twice on records going back to 2006.
The positioning came in the week following a US Department of Agriculture upgrade, in its monthly Wasde crop report, by 3.5m tonnes, to a record 708.9m tonnes, in its forecast for world wheat production in 2013-14, with the forecast for end-season inventories raised by 3.3m tonnes to 176.3m tonnes.
Higher supplies, in meaning less need for buyers to compete, signal lower prices.
Furthermore, hedge funds continued to nudge higher their net long on soybeans, for which the Wasde was deemed more positive for prices, cutting US yield and end-stocks estimates.
Long bets in soybeans are often balanced against short positions in grains.

'Take some courage'
However, wheat markets have proved relatively resilient in recent sessions, against a backdrop of concerns about the quality of Black Sea harvests, with late rains seen as threatening a reduction in milling specifications, while the Argentine crop is taxed by dry weather.
Furthermore, demand for US wheat has proved strong at recent prices, with latest weekly data showing the US making export sales of more than 700,000 tones and actual shipments of 1.2m tonnes, the biggest in 23 years.
Establishing new short positions in Chicago wheat "would take some courage", Brian Henry at broker Benson Quinn Commodities said.
Commerzbank said: "The lion's share of the bearish news should be priced in, which should limit any further downside potential for wheat prices."

Wheat v corn
However, one other technical extreme that is grabbing investors' attention is the relative price of the grain to corn, with wheat's premium returning close to the $2-a-bushel a level which sparked selling early last month.
Wheat for December stood at $6.47 ¾ a bushel at 06:30 Chicago time (12:30 UK time), when December corn stood at $4.49 ¼ a bushel.

Sentiment in corn has been dented by stronger-than-expected yields from the US harvest.
Hedge funds in the week to last Tuesday raised their net short by nearly 40,000 contracts to a historically high 104,211 lots.

Cocoa concerns
Among soft commodities, hedge funds increased their net long position in cocoa to a record high 67,946 contracts.
Concerns over weather in the key West African producing region, at a time of reviving demand, have continued to spur bullish comment on the bean from the likes of Macquarie and Marex Spectron.
And speculators hiked their net long position in raw sugar too, by 25,795 contracts, taking to more than 75,000 lots in two weeks their bullish swing in net positioning on the sweetener.
Prices have been boosted by ideas that demand has been stronger than thought, while wet weather has slowed the cane harvest in Brazil's key Centre South, with further price gains made since Tuesday after the Federal Reserve's surprise move to stick with emergency economic support weakened the dollar, including against Brazil's real.

Hog bets
Hedge funds extended their record net long in Chicago lean hog futures and options too, as a drop in hog slaughter raised concerns about a shortage of supplies which could support prices.
Total hog slaughter in federally Inspected facilities for the week ending September 13 was, at 2.172m head, down 10.5% compared to a year before.