January 12, 2006

 

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

 

 

Soybean futures on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Thursday, continuing a retreat since Monday, on losses in soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

The benchmark May 2006 soybean contract settled RMB30 lower at RMB2,682 a metric tonne after trading between RMB2,668 and RMB2,699/tonne.

 

The total trading volume for soybean futures on the Dalian exchange fell to 212,992 lots from 238,810 lots Wednesday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

The benchmark moved in a narrow range throughout the day, which has been the case since Tuesday.

 

"The decrease of open interest and trading volume indicates that speculators have adopted a wait-and-see attitude before the USDA's report comes out," said Li Honglei, an analyst with South China Futures Co.

 

Li added that the report could push prices up or down by RMB100-RMB200 in the short term.

 

Soymeal futures settled mostly lower, with the benchmark May 2006 contract settling down RMB28 at RMB2,337/tonne after trading between RMB2,326 and RMB2,349/tonne.

 

The total trading volume for soymeal futures fell to 493,632 lots from 591,070 lots Wednesday.

 

Reports of more bird flu outbreaks and human fatalities have had some impact, but CBOT's trend plays a more important role in the domestic market, analysts said.

 

The trading of Dalian's No. 2 soybean contracts, which are encouraged to be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, remained quiet, with the May and September contracts settling lower.

 

The most heavily traded September 2006 No. 2 soybean contract settled RMB40 lower at RMB2,668/tonne, after trading between RMB2,653 and RMB2,690/tonne.

 

Corn futures traded on the exchange settled slightly lower.

 

The most widely held September 2006 contract settled down RMB12 at RMB1,372/tonne, after trading between RMB1,366 and RMB1,383/tonne.