Sugar prices expected to rise further

London: Sugar is a star among commodity markets, with prices at 25-year peaks and possibly heading higher as investors see potential to divert more cane to make biofuel.

The Dubai international sugar conference last week heard a keynote speaker say a larger share of sugar cane in top grower Brazil will likely be used to make the biofuel ethanol instead of edible sugar in the next crop cycle.

Tom McNeill, senior partner of sugar brokerage and consultant Societe J. Kingsman, said as much as 55 per cent of Brazilian cane could be allocated to ethanol in 2006/07 from 52.5 per cent in 2005/06, due to growing demand for the biofuel for use in "flex-fuel" cars in Brazil.

Raw sugar prices, which rose over 60 per cent last year, finished Friday at a fresh 25-year high for the sixth day running on supply fears and fund buying, with analysts saying the market should punch to even higher ground this week.