It is a sweet time to be stocked up on sugar.
The price of raw sugar has risen 21.4 per cent in the past 10 months as worries linger over the possibility that adverse weather will reduce the crop in South America.
In Brazil, exports have been hit hard after bad weather harmed agricultural and sucrose yields. Brazil is the world's main producer of raw sugar. Sugar holdings yesterday climbed to the highest since August, up 45 per cent, according to data from the US commodity futures trading commission. Production in Brazil's central sugar-growing region dropped 6.6 per cent as of February 15, after farmers harvested the smallest cane crop in four years, according to Unica, an industry association.
"Weather and the perception of damages to supply" have pushed prices higher, Osvaldo Canavosio, the head of emerging markets and commodities research at Man Investments USA, told Bloomberg News.
"There's been a continuing pattern of the rest of the world outside the US being an important driver of supply-and-demand dynamics."
Output in India, the world's second-largest producer, may fall to 24 million tonnes or 25 million tonnes in the 2012/2013 harvest, according to forecasts by Banco Itau, a Brazilian wholesale bank. Production in the previous year period reached between 26 million tonnes and 28 million tonnes.
Import demand from China is expected to remain robust, owing to a tight balance in the second half of last year spilling into this year, said Hussein Allidina, the head of commodities research at Morgan Stanley in New York. "China will likely continue relying on imports to replenish state reserves and fill its own domestic production shortfall," Mr Allidina added.
There are no publicly traded sugar refineries in the UAE, but giants such as Al Khaleej Sugar Company, based in Jebel Ali, are expected to see fatter margins.
Demand for sugar is considered safe. Even if it costs a few extra dirhams, consumers will want still their sweets, kanafas and baklavas.
halsayegh@thenational.ae
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Stamp%20duty%20timeline
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
