On the London Commodity Exchange, white sugar for March delivery traded up $6.50 at $377 per ton by 12:20 GMT, its highest level since 1990.
Contributing to the market's firm tone was news that Russia's 1994 sugar-beet crop would total no higher than 14 million tons, down dramatically from last year's 25.5 million.
This followed bearish reports from Ukraine, whose beet crop is down to 28 million tons from 35.25 million in 1993, and from the EU, which expects a 1994-'95 crop of 14.03 million tons, against 15.96 million the previous season.
China was rumored to have bought a cargo of white sugar, creating the perception that Beijing is desperately short of sugar.
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