Sugar is a crystalline of carbohydrates that has been a natural ingredient in our diets for thousands of years. At one point, the refined table sugar we consider a staple was so rare and expensive it was called “white gold.” Today, sugar is the most popular ingredient added to foods in the U.S. The average American consumes more than 150 pounds of sugar per year.
Contract Specifications
|
Ticker Symbol |
YO (CME Globex) SB (ICE) |
|
Contract Size |
112,000 pounds |
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Contract Months |
H, K, N, V |
|
Trading Hours |
CME Globex: Sunday – Friday, 6:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (there’s an hour break from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. each day) ICE: Monday – Friday, 3:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. |
|
Last Trading Day |
CME Globex: The day immediately preceding the first notice day of the corresponding trading month of Sugar No. 11 futures at ICE Futures U.S. ICE: The last business day of the month preceding the delivery month |
|
Price Quote |
U.S. Dollars per pound |
|
Tick Size |
$0.0001 per pound ($11.20 per contract) |
Production
About 80% of the world’s sugar comes from sugarcane, a perennial grass that is grown in tropical and subtropical areas. The other 20% comes from sugar beets, grown mostly in the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere. Worldwide, 70 countries produce sugar from sugarcane, 40 from sugar beets and 10 from both. The top producers are Brazil, India, China, Thailand and Pakistan.
Price Drivers
Despite health concerns and increasing obesity, there is strong demand for sugar throughout the world. Factors that influence sugar prices include:
- global sugar stocks (inventories)
- global consumption outlook
- inflation (sugar tends to be correlated to the U.S. inflation rate)
- weather conditions and weather outlooks
- governmental regulations
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