February 13, 2007

 

Tuesday: China soybean futures down on CBOT; consolidation likely this week

 

 

Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Tuesday, tracking overnight losses in Chicago Board of Trade soybean contracts.

 

The most active September 2007 contract settled RMB23 lower at RMB3,151 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume rose to 156,388 lots from 134,132 lots Monday. One lot equals 10 tonnes.

 

CBOT soybean futures finished lower Monday on ideas the market is in an overbought condition and as carryover weakness from energy futures weighed on prices.

 

With few fresh inputs to trade on, soybeans took direction from other futures markets, such as crude oil.

 

However, analysts said soybean futures prices will be supported by an expected decline in acreage ahead of the March 30 prospective planting report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

Xu Wenjie, an analyst at Tianma Futures Co., expects March soybean contracts to trade within $7.40-$7.50 in the near term.

 

March soybeans ended 4 cents down at $7.45 1/4 a bushel Monday.

 

"If (March futures) don't break the range, the domestic market is likely to consolidate before the Chinese New Year," said Xu, who expects the benchmark September 2007 contract to be supported at RMB3,140-RMB3,150/tonne.

 

The Dalian Commodity Exchange will be closed next week for the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Feb. 18.

 

Soymeal futures and soyoil contracts settled lower.

 

The most active September soymeal contract settled RMB24 lower at RMB2,623/tonne, while the benchmark May 2007 soyoil contract settled RMB44 lower at RMB6,460/tonne.

 

Corn futures also settled lower, with the benchmark September corn contract settling RMB14 lower at RMB1,699/tonne.

 

Trading volume for corn contracts totaled 489,974 lots, compared to 185,408 lots Monday.