January 16, 2008

 

Wednesday: China soybean futures settle down on concern Over goverment measures

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Wednesday on concern over more government price control measures.

 

The benchmark September 2008 soybean contract settled RMB49 lower at RMB4,748 a metric tonne.

 

The Chinese government has been repeatedly saying it will prevent a surge in prices, especially those of daily necessities, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in early February.

 

Analysts said the administrative measures are the government's last way to curb inflationary growth, which is the highest in a decade.

 

The domestic stock market also tumbled Wednesday on U.S. supreme exposure woes and liquidity concerns.

 

"It showed the market is concerned about overall inflation," said Huang Xiao, a manager at Capital Futures.

 

However, many analysts said as it will take time for the recovery of domestic oilseeds output amid strong global competition for acreage for planting oilseeds and corn, the long-term outlook for soybean prices is bullish.

 

"It's like a spring - the more it is pressed, the higher it will rebound," said a local analyst.

 

Palm oil futures settled mixed, while soyoil futures, soymeal futures and corn futures settled lower.

 

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

 

                  Contract      Settlement Price  Change     Volume

Soybeans   Sep 2008      4,748         Dn       49        1,402,554

Corn          Sep 2008      1,797         Dn       26        651,140

Soymeal     Sep 2008      3,454         Dn      76        951,046

Palm Oil     May 2008     10,114         Dn      76         23,204

Soyoil        May 2008     10,904         Dn      72        386,720