Sugar prices rise to highest level in eight months

PanARMENIAN.Net - Sugar prices rose to their highest level in eight months Wednesday, June 19, on supply worries out of Brazil and India, the world's two largest sugar producers, the Associated Press reports.

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. 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.

Energy futures were mixed.

Crude oil fell 39 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $105.97 a barrel and natural gas fell 5 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $4.66 per thousand cubic feet. Wholesale gasoline futures rose less than a cent to $3.10 a gallon. Heating oil rose 2 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $3.04 a gallon.