February 13, 2006

 

Monday: China soybean futures slightly down on CBOT losses; corn down

 

 

Soybean futures on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled slightly lower Monday in light trading, as losses in soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade Friday thinned short buying.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract settled RMB5 lower at RMB2,731 a metric tonne after trading between RMB2,718/tonne and RMB2,745/tonne.

 

The total trading volume for soybean futures on the Dalian exchange shrank to 119,752 lots from 195,958 lots Friday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

Investors rolled over from the May contract to September, but "unless CBOT's price movements provide clear direction for the local market, investors will continue to stay sidelined," said Xu Yulan, an analyst with Yong'an Futures Co.

 

Most soymeal futures settled flat, with the most-widely held May 2006 soymeal contract settling up RMB1 at RMB2,282/tonne.

 

Soyoil futures tracked soybean futures to settle lower. The benchmark September 2006 soyoil contract fell RMB25 to settle at RMB5,065/tonne.

 

Dalian's No. 2 soybean contracts, which are encouraged to be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, settled mostly lower.

 

The benchmark September 2006 No. 2 soybean contract settled RMB26 lower at RMB2,577/tonne, after trading between RMB2,568/tonne and RMB2,588/tonne.

 

Meanwhile, corn futures settled mostly lower. The benchmark September 2006 contract fell RMB17 to settle at RMB1,461/tonne, after trading between RMB1,451/tonne and RMB1,472/tonne.

 

"As local corn prices failed to rise much after the holiday, futures prices lack support at the current level," Xu said.