REPORTS

Barchart - Sugar prices Tuesday closed moderately higher.  Tuesday's action by Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras to raise gasoline prices by more than +7% to distributors is supportive of ethanol prices.  The increase in ethanol prices may prompt Brazil's sugar mills to boost ethanol production at the expense of sugar.

Sugar prices also had carry-over support from Monday's EU court ruling that banned the use of the pesticide neonicotinoids, which is considered harmful to bees.  The court's ruling may make European farmers reluctant to plant sugar beets, reducing EU sugar production.