January 4, 2008

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle at new highs in line with CBOT

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled at fresh highs Friday, in line with a record high set overnight on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

The benchmark September 2008 soybean contract settled RMB21 higher at RMB4,797 a metric tonne.

 

CBOT soybean futures continued their march higher Thursday, with the July 2008 contract setting a new all-time high on the back of speculative-led buying.

 

January soybeans settled 19 cents higher at US$12.51 1/2 and March soybeans ended 18 3/4 cents higher at US$12.67 1/2.

 

But some analysts said both CBOT and China's soybean futures market face the risk of a correction after their continued rise for more than a month.

 

"The correction is likely to come soon, with CBOT likely to see a 80-100 cents per bushel fall and the DCE may see a RMB200-RMB300/tonne decline," said Wang Xiaoguang, an analyst at Galaxy Futures.

 

But he added the downward correction is preparation for testing new highs, as 2008 is expected to be a bull year for soft commodities due to a reduction in global grain output and thirst for biofuels.

 

Palm oil futures and soyoil futures settled lower on profit-taking after the recent continued surge, while soymeal futures and corn futures settled mostly higher.

 

Friday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):

 

                Contract     Settlement Price  Change     Volume

Soybeans  Sep 2008      4,797         Up    21         1,368,090

Corn         May 2008      1,693         Up     8           413,996

Soymeal    Sep 2008      3,461         Up    14          878,556

Palm Oil    May 2008      9,454         Dn    28           26,892

Soyoil       May 2008     10,442        Dn    128         184,558