Sugar heads for first gain in 5 years as El Nino ends surplus

New York

AFTER four bitter years, sugar mills can look forward to sweeter prospects in 2016.

Prices have rebounded 52 per cent since reaching a seven-year low in August. Raw-sugar futures traded in New York are heading for a 6 per cent gain for the year, their first annual advance since 2010. The market has finally swung to a supply deficit after years of surpluses. And the commodity will keep rising through the first quarter of next year, going by the average of 18 traders and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.