Sugar Rises to 30-Year High in New York as Cyclone Yasi Heads for Australias Crop

From Bloomberg:

Sugar rose to a 30-year high in New York and gained to a five-week high in London on speculation Cyclone Yasi will damage the crop in Australia, the world’s third-largest exporter.

Sugar industry losses from Yasi may start at A$500 million ($506 million) including crop losses and damage to sheds and machinery, growers group Canegrowers said in a statement today. Sugar prices in New York have jumped 18 percent in the past year on crop damage in Brazil, Pakistan and parts of Europe.

“The cyclone is the story de jour at the moment in the sugar market,” said Jason Cole, a broker at Starsupply Renewables S.A. in Geneva. Any more gains will depend on the severity of the damage, he said.

Raw sugar for March delivery rose as much as 0.83 cent, or 2.4 percent, to 34.79 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, the highest price for a most-active contract since November 1980, and was at 34.61 cents a pound by 10:57 a.m. London time....MORE