Olam International to shut its sugar trade desk

The decision comes after raw and white sugar futures finished 2018 at a ten-year low.

Agricultural commodities trading firm Olam International will shut its sugar trade desk signalling another sign of pressure on trading houses, according to the company’s spokeswoman Nikki Barber.

The decision comes after ra and white sugar futures on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) finished at a ten-year low in 2018 on the back of a global supply glut which led to a second consecutive annual decline.

March white sugar inched up $0.81 (US$0.6) to $468.62 (US$345.4) per tonne compared with $468.62 (US$390.9) in 2017.

Olam is the latest sugar trading company to have scaled back or sold its business following market volatility. In November 2018, sugar and ethanol maker Biosev SA hired an investment bank to seek potential buyers for some of its plants in Brazil.

Here’s more from Reuters.