Weekly Market Overview
By QSL Business Graduate Elliott Apel

Sugar

• The MAR20 ICE #11 contract pushed further towards 15 USc/lb last week, making its high on the Thursday at 14.90 USc/lb and its low on Friday at 14.26 USc/lb, before closing the week at 14.39 USc/lb.
• Indian sugar exports have been lower than expected, despite a government export subsidy of $145.58/tonne. This is primarily due to Maharashtra state expecting much lower sugar production this season.
• The Commitments of Traders report as of 21 January 2020 showed speculators continued to buy contracts and have reached a 2-year record 111,000 lot net-long position (Those with a net-long position generally buy sugar contracts in the belief that the price will increase).

Currency

• The Australian Dollar fell slightly over the course of the week, closing the period at 0.6842 AUD/USD.
• Australia's December Labor Force data surprised the market, with a 28,900 gain in total employment and unemployment falling to 5.1%.
• The Coronavirus outbreak from China dragged down the Chinese Yuan and Australian Dollar. This may affect local tourism in the short to medium term.
• The Australian inflation CPI (Consumer Price Index) was slightly stronger than expected at 0.7 quarter-on-quarter, compared to the predicted 0.6. This measure tracks the inflation on a weighted average price for a basket of consumer goods and services, such as transportation, food and medical care.

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