February 6, 2009

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Friday, tracking broad gains in external markets, including gains overnight in soybean contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

China's benchmark September 2009 soybean contract settled RMB50, or 1.4%, higher at RMB3,532 a metric tonne.

 

Strong performances in outside markets, including equities and metals, were the main drivers for agricultural products Friday, analysts said.

 

Copper futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange settled higher for the fourth consecutive day Friday on rumors of government stockpiling and hopes for industry-supportive government stimulus measures.

 

Car makers led gains across the board on hopes Beijing would soon release measures to subsidize farmers' vehicle purchases, helping China's shares end sharply higher Friday as well.

 

"The market has great expectations that China's economy will recover soon and perform better than other economies," said Wang Xiaoguang, an analyst at Galaxy Futures.

 

The government's attitude towards support for prices of agricultural products also provided investors an excuse to buy.

 

There was a rumor in the market that the government will buy another 150,000 tonnes of rapeseed to boost reserves, on top of an earlier plan to purchase 1.35 million tonnes.

 

The government said earlier this week that it will help to support falling local grain prices by increasing agricultural subsidies, hiking minimum grain purchase prices, adding to state reserves, adjusting international trade and strengthening investment in construction of agricultural infrastructure.

 

Trading volume of all soybean contracts rose to 516,544 lots from 417,434 lots Thursday. Open interest rose 6,812 lots to 314,732 lots Friday.

 

Corn futures settled mixed, while soymeal futures, soyoil futures and palm oil futures settled higher.

 

Following are Friday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne for benchmark contracts and volume for all contracts in lots (one lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):

 

Contract         Settlement         Price         Change      Volume

Soybean         Sep 2009          3,532         Up   50      516,544

Corn              May 2009          1,584         Dn    1        95,110

Soymeal         May 2009          2,775         Up   80      675,206

Palm Oil          May 2009          5,266         Up   82      174,212

Soyoil             May 2009          6,286         Up   66      435,298