Blog

Sugar

• The prompt March21 raw sugar futures contract settled during the month at an average rate of 15 USc/lb.
• A few tests of 15.50 USc/lb failed to kick on, as a 15 USc/lb floor looked stable.
• On the fundamental side, India continued to hold most of the market’s attention. Subsidised or not, it is expected that India will export sugar to support tighter global trade flows through 1H 2021.

Macro/currency commentary

• A strong month for the AUD, with trading ranging from a USD 0.6991 low to a high of USD 0.7373 toward the end of the month.
• The US Presidential election came and went — complete with the expected fireworks. While a clear win for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, it was not the landslide predicted by most polls.
• Market attention moved back to COVID-19, as Moderna and Pfizer registered successful trials of vaccines and Oxford University announced a successful trial of a vaccine developed in conjunction with AstraZeneca.
• The RBA cut interest rates to 0.1% as widely expected, with the commentary clearly underlining a lack of intent to move to negative interest rates unless widely adopted in other parts of the world.