Sugar futures extend slump as Brazil rain seen aiding cane crop

Sugar futures fell to a one-month low on speculation that rain is improving the outlook for cane cro…

Sugar futures fell to a one-month low on speculation that rain is improving the outlook for cane crops in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer and exporter.

Afternoon showers are expected for growing regions this week, improving soil moisture, forecaster Somar Meteorologia said. In the year that starts in March, cane output in the Center-South, Brazil’s biggest producing region, may climb 11 percent from a year earlier, said Maurilio Biagi Filho, the world’s second-biggest individual sugar-cane grower and the chief executive officer of Grupo Maubisa, a miller.

“Rainfall has really picked up in January,” Michael McDougall, a senior vice president at Newedge Group in New York, said in a telephone interview. “There’s been replanting of the cane and an increase in agricultural yield for the new year.”

Raw sugar for March delivery fell 0.9 pecent to close at 18.45 cents a pound at 2 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, after touching 18.33 cents, the lowest for a most-active contract since Dec. 13. Prices are down 23 percent from a year ago.