REPORTS

Sugar prices on Thursday recovered from early losses and closed slightly higher. Early Thursday, NY sugar fell to a 3-3/4 month low, and London sugar dropped to a 2-1/2 month low on weakness in crude prices. Sugar prices sank when crude (CLF22) dropped to a 3-1/4 month low Thursday, but crude recovered and moved higher, which sparked short-covering in sugar. Weaker crude oil prices undercut ethanol prices and may prompt Brazil's sugar mills to divert more cane crushing toward sugar production rather than ethanol production, thus boosting sugar supplies.