Sugar costs more; latest catalyst is ethanol push

BANGKOK, Thailand — Call it a different kind of sugar high.

Many people think of sugar as little more than an ingredient in foods like pies and candy bars. But hedge funds and other investors are betting that more sugar will soon be needed for another reason: to produce ethanol.

That is the increasingly popular fuel substitute that can be mixed with gasoline to power cars. As oil prices go higher, traders believe, demand for ethanol — and sugar — could soar.

Sugar futures prices are at their loftiest levels in a quarter century. After trading below 10 cents a pound for much of the past decade, sugar-futures prices have risen on the New York Board of Trade, zooming past 19 cents a pound earlier this month. Wednesday, they settled at 18.80 cents.

Wall St. Journal