January 5, 2007
 
Friday: China soybean futures settle down on CBOT; corn mostly up

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled slightly lower Friday on overnight losses in Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures, with optimism over price outlook preventing declines from matching CBOT levels.

 

The benchmark May 2007 contract fell RMB1 to settle at RMB2,828 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,811/tonne and RMB2,837/tonne.

 

Total trading volume fell to 125,129 lots from 153,458 lots Thursday.

 

One lot equals 10 tonnes.

 

"The losses in CBOT soy futures this week were largely due to weak metals and crude oil. The fundamentals (for soybean) were little changed," said Xu Yulan, an analyst at Yong'an Futures Co.

 

"Market participants expect CBOT prices to recover soon, with the other commodities standing firm, and the bullish sentiment before the holiday to come back," Xu said.

 

Soymeal and soyoil futures settled mostly a tad higher on a correction, following Thursday's sharp losses, analysts said.

 

The benchmark May 2007 soymeal contract rose RMB8 to settle at RMB2,343/tonne, after trading between RMB2,325/tonne and RMB2,354/tonne.

 

The benchmark May 2007 soyoil contract settled RMB18 higher at RMB6,609/tonne.

 

"Soymeal and soyoil prices seem to lack the rising momentum and are weaker than soybean futures," said a trader based in Beijing.

 

"Given the weak crude oil at the moment, soyoil, especially, will likely see more losses," he added.

Corn futures settled mostly higher on fresh buying.

 

The most active September 2007 contract rose RMB1 to settle at RMB1,678/tonne, after trading between RMB1,670/tonne and RMB1,688/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts fell to 789,562 lots from 904,776 lots Thursday.

 

Analysts said corn futures are expected to be well underpinned by cash values, which have been at high levels since December.