February 9, 2009

Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Monday, following gains Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

The benchmark September 2009 soybean contract settled up RMB48, or 1.4%, at RMB3,580 a metric tonne.

 

The continuing drought in South America is now the market's focus, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to issue its February supply-and-demand report Tuesday, with reduction in South American production estimates expected.

 

Meanwhile, improved Chinese economic data also helped to convince the market that the country's economy may recover sooner than other economies.

 

"Once the Chinese economy starts to recover, it will help to push up the demand for commodities greatly," said Xu Wenjie, an analyst at Tianma Futures Co.

 

Trading volume of all soybean contracts rose to 573,550 lots from 516,544 lots Friday. Open interest fell 3,396 lots to 311,336 lots Monday.

 

Corn futures, soymeal futures, soyoil futures and palm oil futures all settled higher.

 

Soyoil and palm oil futures led the gains as momentum in soymeal futures eased after an earlier surge, as players sought buying opportunities in commodities with more upward potential, said analysts.

 

Following are Monday'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         3,580        Up   48      573,550

Corn              May 2009         1,589        Up    5       133,092

Soymeal         May 2009         2,842        Up   67      741,630

Palm Oil          May 2009         5,452        Up  186     186,652

Soyoil             May 2009         6,510        Up  224     597,296