February 9, 2007

 

Friday: China soybean futures higher on CBOT; unlikely to surge

 

 

Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Friday after declining for three consecutive days, tracking gains in soybean contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

The most active September 2007 contract settled RMB8 higher at RMB3,167 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume declined to 136,776 lots from 171,526 lots Thursday. One lot equals 10 tonnes.

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Thursday released weekly export sales figures, which exceeded analysts' estimates and were seen as positive for prices.

 

For the week ended Feb. 1, U.S. soybean export sales totaled 803,200 metric tonnes, above analysts' estimates of 450,000 to 700,000 tonnes. The sales were 19% above the previous week and 8% over the prior four-week average, according to the USDA.

 

Major buyers included China, which imported 333,100 tonnes, or 41%, of the total exports.

 

But soybean futures are unlikely to surge as supply is stable and sufficient, analysts said.

 

Soymeal futures settled higher, thanks to rising cash prices.

 

The most active September soymeal contract settled up RMB13 at RMB2,655/tonne.

 

Soymeal cash prices were RMB60-RMB100 a metric tonne higher on average this week compared to the previous week, as feed plants increased their purchases for reserves ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February, said Liu Xinghua, a trader at Great Wall Futures Co.

 

Soyoil futures settled mixed, with the benchmark May 2007 soyoil contract unchanged at RMB6,552/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled higher. The benchmark September corn contract rose RMB4 to RMB1,713/tonne.

 

Trading volume for corn contracts totaled 171,190 lots, compared to 288,284 lots Thursday.