January 9, 2007

 

Tuesday: China soybean futures settle down on CBOT fall; corn lower

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Tuesday on overnight losses in Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures.

 

The mostly widely held May 2007 contract settled RMB8 lower at RMB2,824 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,815/tonne and RMB2,836/tonne.

 

Total trading volume rose to 76,430 lots from 66,758 lots Monday.

 

One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

"Soybean futures are likely to remain weak for the near term, as charts indicate, though domestic supply and demand are little changed," said an analyst in Shanghai.

 

Moreover, "with the whole commodities complex in volatile trading after the New Year holiday, and the overall sentiment isn't positive, soybean prices are capped, lacking positive news flow," said the analyst.

 

Soymeal and soyoil futures settled mostly lower, along with soybean futures.

 

The benchmark May 2007 soymeal contract fell RMB14 to settle at RMB2,327/tonne, after trading between RMB2,318/tonne and RMB2,337/tonne.

 

The benchmark May 2007 soyoil contract settled RMB45 lower at RMB6,572/tonne.

 

Dalian's corn futures settled lower on the overnight decline in CBOT corn futures and falling prices in electronic trading during the session, analysts said.

 

The most active September 2007 contract fell RMB12 to settle at RMB1,670/tonne, after trading between RMB1,661/tonne and RMB1,680/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts rose to 859,456 lots from 607,868 lots Monday.

 

"Corn will likely fall on charts further, but given the strong spot market, its downside will be limited," said a trader in Beijing.

 

Immediate support is likely around RMB1,600/tonne, said the trader.