Sugar dip just a prelude to fresh peaks

As Indian buyers contracted raw sugar from Brazil to fill a huge shortfall,funds unwound substantial long positions into the rally,according to dealers and data from the Commitments of Traders report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Analysts said they had identified a repeat of a pattern during the last major sugar surge in Feb. 2006 when funds sold heavily into the rally to a then 25-year high of 19.73 cents.

In the past few days,the market has consolidated below the recent peaks,but remained well-supported by the tight global supplies and robust consumption of sugar.

Last week8217;s rise in open interest was the biggest since January 2008,Jonathan Kingsman,an industry consultant,said.