Sugar Ends Higher but White Premiums Weaken (23 October 2026)
Sugar recovered modestly on Friday, ending a five-session losing run in March raws. The rebound left both benchmarks lower for the week, however, and white sugar continued to lose ground relative to raws.
| Contract | Friday settlement | Daily change | Weekly change |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York raw sugar, March 2027 | 20.24¢/lb | +0.11¢ / +0.55% | −2.93% |
| London white sugar, December 2026 | $534.80/t | +$0.90 / +0.17% | −3.62% |
March raws traded between 20.02 and 20.51 cents, while December whites ranged from $531.50 to $542.20/tonne. Both made lower highs and lower lows than Thursday despite settling higher. The recovery therefore interrupted the decline without reversing the recent price pattern. May raws gained 0.12 cent to 19.64 cents and March whites rose $1.20 to $550.20/tonne; more distant contracts were mixed.
Trading activity eased. Raw volume fell 12.79% to 132,656 contracts and white volume declined 17.68% to 24,316. The bounce attracted less turnover than Thursday’s sell-off, although volume alone cannot identify whether buying came from new longs or short covering.
The latest available open interest relates to Thursday, 22 October. Raw OI increased by 7,006 contracts to 1,215,934 as prices fell, while white OI declined by just 216 to 167,995. This does not support describing Thursday as broad position liquidation across both markets. Friday’s OI was unavailable, so its rebound cannot yet be assessed on that basis.
Nearby spreads offered mixed confirmation. March raws held a 0.60-cent premium to May, down from 0.61 cent, while March’s premium to July widened slightly to 1.04 cents. December whites slipped to a $15.40 discount to March, although their discount to May narrowed to $22.80.
The clearer signal was continued white underperformance. Comparing identical delivery months, the March white-over-raw premium fell $1.23 to $103.98/tonne, and May’s fell $2.45 to $124.61. Friday’s higher outright prices therefore came without a broad strengthening of nearby spreads or refining premiums.
