ALL BEST LAID PLANS….


The old adage that there is no such thing as a sure bet in any market has been horribly illustrated in the sugar market over the past few weeks.


The old adage that there is no such thing as a sure bet in any market has been horribly illustrated in the sugar market over the past few weeks.


Traders celebrated at the Dubai Sugar Conference at the beginning of February that the low price of sugar had been surely hit and it was, now, just a case of how far the recovery could extend. A month later and the euphoria of Dubai is a distant memory as the impact of the unexpected and deadly Coronavirus has hit the markets hard, including sugar.


Sugar prices had rallied from the lows of November as it became apparent that the current 2019/20 season would see a large deficit of production over consumption. There was also much chatter that next season another, albeit, lower deficit was also likely. At last, the years of low prices were impacting on production aided by weather problems in India, Thailand, the US and EC plus several other smaller producers.


Brazil was the first producer to severely cut production. They are in the enviable position that allows them to switch their cane crush to ethanol if sugar does not make economic sense. Their sugar production dropped from a record 36 million tonnes in 2017/18 to just 26.50 million tonnes in 2018/19. Their just finished 2019/20 production was around a similar level.


SUGAR PRICES HAD RALLIED FROM THE LOWS OF NOVEMBER AS IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THE CURRENT 2019/20 SEASON WOULD SEE A LARGE DEFICIT OF PRODUCTION OVER CONSUMPTION.


6 | ADMISI - The Ghost In The Machine | Q1 Edition


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24