Sugar Prices Hit Eight-Month High

Sugar prices rose to their highest level in eight months Wednesday, on supply worries out of Brazil and India, the world’s two largest sugar producers.

Sugar rose 0.4 of a cent, or 2.5 percent, to 18.4 cents a pound. That’s the highest level for sugar since October.

Brazil is considering increasing the amount of ethanol it uses in fuel for autos, Reuters reported Wednesday. Brazil uses sugarcane to make ethanol, unlike the U.S., where corn is primarily used. If Brazil were to use more sugarcane as fuel, it would tighten sugar supplies.

Other agricultural-commodity prices also rose. Wheat rose 5 cents, or 1 percent, to $5.87 a bushel; corn rose 3 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $4.41 a bushel; and soybeans rose 11 cents, or 1 percent, to $14.09 a bushel.

In metals trading, the price of gold rose 70 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $1,272.70 an ounce. Silver rose 5 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $19.78 an ounce; and copper was unchanged at $3.06 a pound.

Platinum rose $7.70, or 0.5 percent, to $1,450.80 an ounce; and palladium added $5.95, or 0.7 percent, to $822.60 an ounce.

This article appeared in print in the June 19th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.