January 5, 2006

 

Thursday: China soybean futures settle higher on CBOT; corn down

 

 

Soybean futures on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Thursday in tandem with overnight gains in soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

The benchmark May 2006 contract, which shortly hit an intraday high of RMB2,796 a metric tonne shortly after the market opened, settled RMB10/tonne higher at RMB2,785/tonne.

 

The total trading volume on the Dalian exchange dropped to 310,332 lots from 369,884 lots Wednesday.

 

One lot is equal to 10 tonnes.

 

"With no fresh fundamental changes, local soybean futures are likely to follow the upward trend on CBOT," said Dong Liang, an analyst with Shanghai Jiuheng Futures Brokerage Co.

 

Su Dongrong, an analyst with South China Futures Co., agreed, saying that he foresees prices continuing to climb in the short-term.

 

Most soymeal futures settled higher. The benchmark May 2006 contract settled RMB25 higher at RMB2,422/tonne after trading between RMB2,405/tonne and RMB2,440/tonne.

 

The total trading volume rose to 747,454 lots from 516,394 lots Wednesday.

 

Dalian's No. 2 soybean contracts, which are encouraged to be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, settled mixed.

 

The most heavily traded September 2006 No. 2 soybean contract settled RMB14 higher at RMB2,777/tonne, after trading between RMB2,767/tonne and RMB2,788/tonne.

 

Corn futures traded on the exchange settled mostly lower.

 

The most widely held September 2006 contract settled RMB5 lower at RMB1,386/tonne, after trading between RMB1,381/tonne and RMB1,394/tonne.