Brazil Center-South June sugar output fell 26.3% y/y to 3.903 MMT, adding to supply concerns. India’s weather office cut its June-September monsoon cumulative rainfall estimate to 90% of the long-term average, and total rainfall was 12% below normal as of August 10. The USDA projects Thailand’s 2026/27 sugar production will drop 15.6% y/y to 9.5 MMT. The tighter supply outlook helped New York raw sugar and London white sugar futures edge higher on Monday.

A weaker production outlook in smaller West African countries lifted ICE cocoa futures to a higher close on Monday. Early assessments put output for the new season at just 1.8 MMT, down 18% year on year, sharpening concerns about tighter supply. Even with Ghana’s 2025/26 harvest up 25.6% to 750,000 MT, Ivory Coast port arrivals up 20% to 2.11 MMT in the current marketing year, and Nigeria’s June exports up 30%, market attention has shifted toward the expected drop in the coming season.

Marex plans to allow clients to use Bitcoin and Ethereum as initial margin for trading in 2026, according to an exclusive report by Investing.com. The move would bring digital assets into traditional margin frameworks and further connect cryptocurrencies with mainstream finance. The report did not disclose a specific launch timeline or regulatory arrangements.

India is considering cutting the amount of sugarcane diverted to ethanol production as domestic sugar prices reach record highs. Mills have diverted about 3 million metric tons of sugar—around 10% of total output—to ethanol in the current year ending September. Sugar prices have climbed about 10% over the past month on tighter supplies and stronger festival-season demand, and are expected to stay elevated for at least the next three months. To keep its 20% ethanol blending programme on track, the government may raise the use of corn and rice for ethanol production.

Sugar prices are rising as supply concerns grow, after UNICA data showed Brazil Center-South June sugar production fell 26.3% year on year. In India, monsoon rainfall forecasts have been cut and actual rainfall remains below normal, adding to worries about the crop. For 2026/27, global sugar consumption is expected to rise 0.4% to 179.991 million tons. A tighter supply-demand outlook is supporting prices.

ICE cocoa futures in New York and London rebounded as assessments of the new West African crop pointed to weak pod development. The market is pricing 2026/27 output at 1.8 MMT, down 18% from the prior season. Separately, Ghana’s cocoa board said 750,000 MT has been harvested for 2025/26, up 25.6% year on year, while Ivory Coast shipments to ports totaled 2.11 MMT in the current marketing year, up 20%. Nigerian cocoa exports in June rose 30% year on year.

Intel said before the market opened Monday that it plans a $15 billion underwritten public offering and has filed an S-3 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Underwriters have a 30-day option to buy up to $2.25bn of additional shares. The move comes after Intel spent $82bn on share buybacks in the 2010s, reviving debate about financial pressure. The company has also committed €5bn to its Irish fab, but it still lacks meaningful volume orders from external customers, leaving the use of funds in focus.

Constellation Energy said on its latest earnings call that most of its generation output is now contracted through 2050 and beyond. The company agreed to sell the Brazos Valley Energy Center in Texas to LS Power for $860 million, the final divestiture required to complete its $16.4 billion acquisition of Calpine. Over the past year, Constellation shares have fallen roughly 19% to about $269, leaving the stock at a forward P/E of 21.16x and a forward P/S of 2.64x.