U.S. softs mixed; sugar trades near lowest level since June 2010

Investing.com - U.S. soft futures were mixed on Tuesday, with sugar prices trading near the lowest level since June 2010 as investors continued to focus on massive global supplies of the sweetener.

On the ICE Futures U.S. Exchange, sugar futures for March delivery traded at USD0.1516 a pound, down 0.2%. Prices of the sweetener hit a session low of USD0.1515 a pound earlier.

U.S. soft commodity futures markets remained closed on Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. The March sugar contract ended Friday’s session down 1.49% to settle at USD0.1522 a pound.

Sugar prices have been on a downward trend in recent months as market players focused on prospects for increased production out of Brazil, Thailand and India. Prices of the sweetener hit a three-and-a-half year low of USD0.1510 a pound on January 16.

Meanwhile, Arabica coffee for March delivery traded at USD1.1825 a pound, up 0.9%. The March Arabica contract held in a range between USD1.1688 a pound and USD1.1853 a pound.

The March contract ended down 1.01% on Friday to settle at USD1.1715 a pound.

Trading has been choppy in recent sessions as investors speculated over crop conditions and harvest prospects in top grower Brazil.

Elsewhere, cotton futures for March delivery traded at USD0.8663 a pound, down 0.2%. Cotton prices traded in a range between USD0.8636 a pound and USD0.8700 a pound.

The March contract rallied to USD0.8714 a pound on Friday, the highest since October 4, before trimming gains to settle at USD0.8680 a pound, up 0.715.

Cotton futures have been well-supported in recent days amid growing speculation global supplies of the fiber will not as high as recently estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The USDA expects global cotton inventories to a reach a record high of 97.6 million bales in the season ending July 3.