January 26, 2006

 

Thursday: China soybean futures settle mostly down;pre-holiday sale

 

 

China's Dalian Commodity Exchange soybean futures settled mostly lower Thursday as long liquidation weighed on some contracts ahead of a week-long holiday.

 

Trading was even thinner than in previous sessions due to the looming Chinese New Year holidays.

 

The benchmark May 2006 soybean contract fell RMB11 a metric tonne to settle at RMB2,674/tonne.

 

The benchmark continued to hold a tight range of RMB2,666/tonne and RMB2,682/tonne, as many investors hovered on the sidelines ahead of the Lunar New Year.

 

China's commodities futures markets will close Jan. 30-Feb. 3. Trading will resume Feb. 6.

 

Trade volume in Dalian soybean futures shrank to 93,952 lots from Wednesday's 159,880 lots. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

Traders and analysts expect trading to be more sluggish Friday.

 

The No. 2 soybean contracts, which can be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, settled lower on pre-holiday long liquidation.

 

The benchmark September 2006 No. 2 contract lost RMB8/tonne to RMB2,557/tonne, after trading between RMB2,548/tonne and RMB2,564/tonne.

 

Soyoil futures and soymeal futures settled mostly lower following the slippage in soybean futures.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soyoil contract lost RMB2/tonne to settle at RMB5,049/tonne, after trading between RMB5,020/tonne and RMB5,060/tonne.

 

The benchmark May 2006 soymeal contract retraced RMB15/tonne to RMB2,282/tonne, after trading between RMB2,273/tonne and RMB2,292/tonne.

 

Meanwhile, corn futures traded on the exchange settled mostly higher on short-covering.

 

The most heavily traded September 2006 contract rose RMB13/tonne to RMB1,427/tonne, after trading between RMB1,421/tonne and RMB1,440/tonne.