History of Sugar and Sugar Specifications

Free $25 Sugar Trading Kit

The History of Sugar

At approximately twenty thousand B.C., people in the islands of the S. Pacific were the first to find the sugar in the canes of sugar that grew naturally in their area. Anyhow, the country of India was the 1st country to extract natural cane juice to make the first crude sugar. They called it "gur",loosely translated as "sweet tasting", in five hundred B.C. From there, the knowledge of making sugar spread toward the west, into the Arabic nations, and then to Europe by the Crusaders.

For 100s of years, sugar was a highly valued and costly "spice" that was used only in the homes of high society and royalty. Christopher Columbus took the cane to plant in the Caribbean, leading to the blossoming of sugar in the New World. In the mid-1700's, a German scientist developed an substitute to sugar, through the use of sugar beets. Since then, the sugar beet has become the main source of sugar in Europe.

Sugar as a product

Sugar performs a array of functions in edible products, in addition to providing a sweet essence and flavor. Sugar is used as a conservative, as is the case in jams and jellies, where sugar reserves the growth of micro organisms. Sugar is used in baked goods, like cakes, to hold moisture and prevent the staleness that we notice in these foods after time.. In canned fruit and many vegetables, sugar enhances consistency and their colors. Sugar is also used to prevent large ice crystals from forming in frozen sweet mixtures, like ice cream, and to support fermentation in products containing yeast, such as bread. In these roles and others, sugar is an important and versatile food ingredient.

Specifications

Daily Price Limits
None

Ticker Symbol
SB

Grade
Raw centrifugal cane sugar based on 96 degrees average polarization.

Minimum Fluctuation
1/100 cent/pound., equivalent to $11.20 per contract.

Trading Hours
9:00 am to 12:00 pm; closing period commences at 11:58 am

Price Quotation
Cents per pound Delivery Months
March, May, Jul, Oct

Position Limits/Position Accountability
Spot Month - 5,000 contracts as of the 2nd business day following the expiration of the regular option contract traded on the expiring futures contract. Additionally, Position Accountability rules apply to all futures and options contract months. Contact the Exchange for more information.

Sugar Futures Deliverable Growths
Growths of Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ecuador, Fiji Islands, French Antilles, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Malawi, Mauritius, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Republic of the Philippines, South Africa, Swaziland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, United States, and Zimbabwe.

Last Trading Day
Last business day of the month preceding deliverly month.

Notice Day
First business day after the last trading day.

*The risk of loss exists in futures trading. Past performance is not indicative of future results.