LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE slid to a 2-1/2 year low on Tuesday while white sugar fell to its weakest level in more than nine years as the market extended its prolonged fall driven by global oversupply.

May raw sugar was down 0.17 cents, or 1.5 per cent, at 11.04 cents per lb by 1344 GMT after sliding to a low of 11.01 cents, the weakest for the front month since September 2015.

Dealers said the prospect that India may look to export sugar to shore up weak domestic prices added to the bearish mood in an already oversupplied market.

Indian ministers have proposed giving subsidies to cane growers for produce they sell to sugar mills, as bulging supplies have driven down prices, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Monday.

“We continue to adhere to the view that there is more pressure to come on prices, despite the markets in a technically oversold position,” Nick Penney, senior trader with Sucden Financial, said in a market note.

“Producers will continue to hold back selling in the hope of a correction but when it comes it will be swift and of short duration. A sub 11 cents price has been on the cards for a while and we are fast approaching that level.”

August white sugar fell $3.40, or 1.0pc, to $325.80 a tonne after dipping to a low of $324.60, the weakest for the front month since January 2009.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2018