January 28, 2008

 

Monday: China soybean futures settle little changed; corn a tad higher

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled little changed Monday on a lack of fresh news, with analysts expecting consolidation to continue before the Chinese New Year holiday in early February.

 

The benchmark September 2008 soybean contract fell RMB4 to settle at RMB4,624 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB4,595/tonne and RMB4,651/tonne.

 

"Now is the time to cull the pigs and poultry as the Chinese New Year is just two weeks away, so demand for soybean and soy products have already peaked," said Li Honglei, an analyst at Nanhua Futures.

 

Analysts said the ongoing heavy snowfall in central, southern and eastern China have little impact on soybeans, which are grown in the north.

 

Besides, "the downward correction of freight rates recently also capped the rise in prices," Li said.

 

Supply and demand aren't expected to change much in the following weeks due to a lack of fresh news these days, so consolidation might continue for a while.

 

Corn futures settled slightly higher, but profit-taking pared earlier gains because demand is expected to shrink in the next few weeks in tandem with declining feedmeal demand, analysts said.

 

Monday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and volume for all contracts in lots:

 

                  Contract      Price      Change     Volume

Soybeans   Sep 2008      4,624      Dn  4      646,460

Soymeal    Sep 2008      3,287       Up  17   1,118,126

Soyoil        May 2008     10,685      Up  4      98,124

Corn         May 2008      1,744       Up  6      211,262

Palm Oil     May 2008      9,576      Dn  10     21,086