Latest news with #sugar
Free Malaysia Today
10 hours ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
No reason to hike sugar price, finance ministry tells MSM Malaysia
MSM Malaysia is one of two sugar refineries in the country, the other being Central Sugars Refinery Sdn Bhd. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : The finance ministry has urged sugar manufacturer and refinery MSM Malaysia to refrain from hiking the price of white sugar once the revised sales and service tax (SST) takes effect next month. The ministry said that MSM Malaysia was eligible to apply for tax exemptions for raw sugar and was benefitting from monthly incentives from the government to ensure stable supply and prices. 'Refiners and manufacturers of sugar in Malaysia can seek exemption on their upstream costs. This is provided for under Item 1, Column (2), Schedule B of the Sales Tax (Persons Exempted from Payment of Tax) Order. 'Therefore, there should not be any increase in price for refined sugar,' it said in a statement today. MSM Malaysia is one of two sugar refineries in the country, the other being Central Sugars Refinery Sdn Bhd. The ministry also reiterated that white sugar would remain untaxed in the new SST scheme as it falls under the category of essential goods, to avoid inflating the cost of living for the majority. Yesterday, MSM Malaysia's group CEO Syed Feizal Syed Mohammad said that the new 5% SST on raw sugar was expected to put pressure on input costs and push up refined sugar prices for industrial buyers. He said MSM was seeking clarification from the government regarding the new tax scheme, which kicks in on July 1, The Edge Malaysia reported.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sugar Prices Slump to 4-Year Lows on the Outlook for Abundant Global Supplies
July NY world sugar #11 (SBN25) Wednesday closed down -0.20 (-1.24%), and August London ICE white sugar #5 (SWQ25) closed up +3.80 (+0.82%). Sugar prices on Wednesday extended their 3-month-long slide and posted 4-year nearest-futures lows. The outlook for improving global sugar supplies is weighing on prices. However, fund short covering on Wednesday lifted London sugar off its lows and into positive territory. Grains, Unrest, & Gold: What Middle East Tensions Mean for Your Portfolio Now Coffee Prices Plummet on an Improved Supply Outlook Can Soybean Prices Keep Trending Higher? Get exclusive insights with the FREE Barchart Brief newsletter. Subscribe now for quick, incisive midday market analysis you won't find anywhere else. Sugar prices have fallen over the past 3-months due to expectations of a global sugar surplus. On May 22, the USDA, in its biannual report, projected that global 2025/26 sugar production would increase by +4.7% year-over-year (y/y) to a record 189.318 million metric tons (MMT), with a global sugar surplus of 41.188 MMT, up 7.5% year-over-year. The outlook for higher sugar production in India, the world's second-largest producer, is bearish for prices. On June 2, India's National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories projected that India's 2025/26 sugar production would climb +19% y/y to 35 MMT, citing larger planted cane acreage. The outlook for abundant rainfall in India could lead to a bumper sugar crop, which is bearish for prices. On April 15, India's Ministry of Earth Sciences projected an above-normal monsoon this year, with total rainfall forecast to be 105% of the long-term average. India's monsoon season runs from June through September. Signs of larger global sugar output are negative for prices. On May 22, the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) predicted that Brazil's 2025/26 sugar production would rise +2.3% y/y to a record 44.7 MMT. Also, India's 2025/26 sugar production is projected to rise +25% y/y to 35.3 MMT, citing favorable monsoon rains and increased sugar acreage. In addition, Thailand's 2025/26 sugar production is expected to climb +2% y/y to 10.3 MMT. In a bearish factor, the Indian government said on January 20 that it would allow its sugar mills to export 1 MMT of sugar this season, easing the restrictions placed on sugar exports in 2023. India has restricted sugar exports since October 2023 to maintain adequate domestic supplies. India allowed mills to export only 6.1 MMT of sugar during the 2022/23 season to September 30 after allowing exports of a record 11.1 MMT in the previous season. However, the ISMA projects that India's 2024/25 sugar production will fall -17.5% y/y to a 5-year low of 26.2 MMT. Also, the ISMA reported last Monday that India's sugar production from Oct 1-May 15 was 25.74 MMT, down -17% from the same period last year. In addition, Indian Food Secretary Chopra said on May 1 that India's 2024/25 sugar exports may only total 800,000 MT, below earlier expectations of 1 MMT. The outlook for higher sugar production in Thailand is bearish for sugar prices. On May 2, Thailand's Office of the Cane and Sugar Board reported that Thailand's 2024/25 sugar production rose +14% y/y to 10.00 MMT. Thailand is the world's third-largest sugar producer and the second-largest exporter of sugar. Sugar prices have some support from reduced sugar production in Brazil. Unica reported Monday that cumulative 2025/26 Brazil Center-South sugar output through May is down by -11.6% y/y to 6.954 MMT. Last month, Conab, Brazil's government crop forecasting agency, said 2024/25 Brazil sugar production fell -3.4% y/y to 44.118 MMT, citing lower sugarcane yields due to drought and excessive heat. The International Sugar Organization (ISO) raised its 2024/25 global sugar deficit forecast to a 9-year high of -5.47 MMT on May 15, up from a February forecast of -4.88 MMT. This indicates a tightening market following the 2023/24 global sugar surplus of 1.31 MMT. ISO also cut its 2024/25 global sugar production forecast to 174.8 MMT from a February forecast of 175.5 MMT. The USDA, in its bi-annual report released May 22, projected that global 2025/26 sugar production would climb +4.7% y/y to a record 189.318 MMT and that global 2025/26 human sugar consumption would increase +1.4% y/y to a record 177.921 MMT. The USDA also forecasted that 2025/26 global sugar ending stocks would climb +7.5% y/y to 41.188 MMT. On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sugar Futures Remain Bearish- Can the Sweet Commodity Rally?
I asked in a Barchart article if the price consolidation of sugar would end on May 2, 2025. I concluded: Given the price action in Arabica coffee, cocoa, and FCOJ futures over the past months, sugar could offer value. Deferred sugar futures at prices lower than the nearby contract do not reflect the potential for supply issues in the world free-market sugar market. What We Know About Soybeans Sugar Futures Remain Bearish- Can the Sweet Commodity Rally? Stop Missing Market Moves: Get the FREE Barchart Brief – your midday dose of stock movers, trending sectors, and actionable trade ideas, delivered right to your inbox. Sign Up Now! July sugar futures were at the 17.05 cents level on May 2 and were around the 16.00 cents per pound level on June 18, in a bearish trend. Events in the Middle East could lead to a recovery in sugar due to their correlation with oil prices. The nearby continuous sugar futures contract reached a high of 20.19 cents per pound on February 6, 2025, marking the peak for 2025. The chart shows a pattern of lower highs and lower lows, which sent the July sugar futures to a 15.80 cents per pound low on June 18. At below 16 cents, world sugar futures remain in a bearish trend just above the most recent low. The monthly chart highlights the bearish trend since November 2023, when the price reached a multi-year high of 28.14 cents per pound. The monthly chart illustrates that critical technical support for world sugar futures is now at the March 2021 low of 14.67 cents. Resistance is at the September 2024 high of 23.64 cents. At around 16 cents, sugar futures remain in a longer-term bearish trend. While the United States refines corn into ethanol for blending with gasoline, Brazil, the world's leading sugarcane producer, processes the sweet commodity into biofuel. Therefore, higher crude oil and gasoline prices could put upward pressure on world sugar futures as increased energy demand limits Brazil's sugar exports. The daily NYMEX crude oil futures chart for July delivery highlights the 42.9% rally from $54.33 on April 9 to $77.62 per barrel on June 13. Over the same period, nearby NYMEX gasoline futures prices rallied 24% from $1.8720 on April 9 to $2.3208 per gallon wholesale on June 18. The turmoil in the Middle East could send crude oil and gasoline prices substantially higher over the coming days, weeks, and months. Higher energy prices would likely cause an increase in Brazilian domestic sugar consumption, reducing exports and putting upward pressure on prices. Therefore, higher crude oil and gasoline are not bearish for the world sugar futures. Given the price action in cocoa, coffee, and frozen concentrated orange juice futures over the past months, world sugar could be close to a significant low. The soft commodities sector led the raw materials asset class in 2023 and 2024, with prices of cocoa, coffee, and FCOJ reaching new record highs. While sugar and cotton futures have lagged, they still offer value in the soft commodities sector as of June 2025. Since sugar's trend remains bearish, any long risk positions require tight stops. Bullish market participants in the world sugar arena should be willing to accept short-term small losses in the quest for greater long-term gains when the bearish price action forms a bottom and sugar's price recovers. The most direct route for a risk position in world sugar is the futures and futures options on the Intercontinental Exchange. The world sugar futures market is liquid, with open interest, the total number of open long and short positions, over the 880,000 contract level. Each sugar futures contract contains 112,000 pounds. At 16 cents per pound, the contract value is $17,920. The original margin of $1,218 per contract means that market participants can control $17,920 worth of sugar for a 6.8% down payment. The exchange requires a maintenance margin if equity drops below $1,108 per contract. The Teucrium Sugar ETF product (CANE) owns three sugar futures contracts, excluding the nearby contract to minimize roll risks. At $10.91 per share, CANE had over $9.87 million in assets under management and trades an average of 29,899 shares daily. CANE charges a 0.22% management fee. The chart shows that CANE has followed the same bearish trend as nearby sugar futures in 2025, as the ETF does an excellent job tracking the sweet commodity's price action. Sugar futures could offer value at around the 16 cents per pound level in mid-June. However, long risk positions require tight stops as the bearish trend remains firmly intact. On the date of publication, Andrew Hecht did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Stop the dump: MSM Malaysia urges action on cheap Thai sugar imports
KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd reiterates its call for a tariff on imported sugar to address the ongoing influx of low-priced Thai sugar into the domestic market. Group chief executive officer Syed Feizal Syed Mohammad said MSM, which produces refined sugar for both industrial and retail consumption, and Central Sugars Refinery Sdn Bhd (CSR) have jointly requested the government to consider imposing a tariff on imported sugar, particularly from Thailand, to safeguard the domestic sugar industry from dumping practices. He pointed out that when Thai sugar was dumped into Vietnam's market, the Vietnamese did not hesitate to impose a 48 per cent tariff. 'Our effective production capacity, combined with CSR, is about 2.8 million tonnes per year, and domestic demand is about 1.55 million tonnes per year. 'So we have enough capacity to meet the demand, and there is no need to import sugar,' he told a press conference after MSM's 14th Annual General Meeting here today. Syed Feizal emphasised that MSM can compete in terms of scale and efficiency, but stressed that protection is necessary in cases of price dumping. 'It is not that we cannot compete. But why do we have to face dumping practices? Liberalising the market sometimes works against the local industry and even the ringgit,' he added. Regarding the revision and expansion of the Sales and Service Tax (SST), Syed Feizal said MSM is engaging with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to determine whether the five per cent SST applies to raw sugar used in production. He said that while MSM could pass on the cost to industrial users, the retail segment, which is governed by a controlled ceiling price, would be impacted. 'What we will not be able to pass on is consumer products, which are on the retail shelves, because these products are under a controlled ceiling price. 'So that clarity is required, and we are engaging the government accordingly,' he added. — Bernama
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
MSM Malaysia sweetens sugar exports with China push, eyes 50pc jump in volume
KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd is targeting a significant jump in export volumes of value-added products like liquid sugar and premixes from MSM Johor this year. The group aims to ramp up exports to 360,000 tonnes in 2025, up from 240,000 tonnes last year, leveraging enhanced production capacity from its Johor refinery (MSM Sugar Refinery (Johor) Sdn Bhd) and strategic partnerships, said its group chief executive officer Syed Feizal Syed Mohammad. He said MSM seeks to penetrate deeper into China's high-potential market while consolidating its position in Asean, as part of its strategic move to expand its export footprint. 'We are not venturing into a new market, as China has been an established market. 'But, with increased capacity and better efficiency at our Johor refinery, MSM now has more room to produce additional volumes beyond domestic needs, making it logical to scale up exports,' he said after the company's 14th Annual General Meeting here today. He said MSM is banking on its premium quality sugar and existing ties with China Oil and Foodstuffs Corporation (Cofco Group), which is one of China's largest state-owned agribusiness (agricultural business) conglomerates and food importer, to expand sales of both refined sugar and value-added products. 'Our wide range of sugar products exports currently comprises about 15 per cent to 20 per cent of MSM's overall sales portfolio, while more than 60 per cent of the group's exports are already destined for Asean markets. 'With Korean companies importing our sugar and China sourcing from players like Korea, we believe we can compete meaningfully. Our products are already proven in regional markets,' he added. Syed Feizal said MSM has undertaken operational improvements to support its export ambition, with the Johor facility recently achieving 50 per cent utilisation over two continuous weeks, while the Perlis refinery is operating at 80 per cent to 85 per cent. 'The group's overall production yield has risen to 94 per cent from just 18 per cent a year ago,' he said. — Bernama
