Agricultural commodities mixed on session

December wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade added 1 cent to $8.46 per bushel, for a gain of 0.3 percent over the week after predictions that rainfall will be below normal for at least the next ten days in the southern Great Plains growing region in the United States.

White sugar futures for December were up in London, adding $3.70 to $270 per tonne on the possibility that refiners will limit production now that the refining premium is down to around $56 per tonne, just half of what it was six months ago.

Despite the gain, however, December white sugar remained $5.20 lower on the week.

November orange juice futures, meanwhile, dropped 0.05 cent to $1.2345 per pound on the New York Board of Trade on indications that Tropical Storm Ingrid will miss Florida orange groves.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil for October delivery set a new high price of $80.36 per barrel during trade on Friday, but by the close of floor trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange it had dropped $1 from Thursday’s close to $79.09 per barrel, while November contracts for Brent crude fell 87 cents to $76.25 per barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange in London.

Nymex October gasoline was 2 cents lower to $2.03 per gallon, while October heating oil dropped 1 cent to $2.21 per gallon.

November natural gas was 18 cents higher to $7.06 per million British thermal units.

Several refineries in Texas that were knocked out of production by power outages that accompanied Hurricane Humberto were said to be working on restoring production, while a new tropical storm, Ingrid, is not expected to make landfall.

Precious metals prices were mixed.

December gold dropped 10 cents to $717.80 per troy ounce in New York on gains by the US dollar, while October platinum fell 70 cents to $1,299.20 per troy ounce.

On the other hand, December silver was three cents higher to $1271 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, copper traded even at $3.39 per pound in New York.

Story link: Agricultural commodities mixed on session