Blog

Sugar

• Raw sugar futures chopped higher over the past month as the Mar–21 contract achieved life-of-contract highs at 16.75 USc/lb off the back of US dollar weakness.
• Fundamental news remained quiet following India’s export subsidy announcement in December. At least two million tonnes has been contracted for Indonesia, while Indian millers will continue to seek out homes for the remainder of the proposed five million tonnes of exports.
• Thailand’s crush is lagging behind the same period last year, as anticipated by the market.
• From a fundamental perspective, all eyes will be on the Brazil crop in the coming months.

Macro/currency commentary

• The AUD has been well supported in the last month by a weakening USD, and has seen fresh 33-month highs at USD 0.7816.
• Ever-increasing COVID-19 numbers and political unrest have weighed heavily on the US dollar and economy.
• Investors have moved money from the typical safe havens of the USD and gold, towards ‘riskier’ assets such as the US equity market and AUD.