February 27, 2009
Friday: China soy futures settle down; RMB3,300-RMB3,600/tonne eyed
China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Friday, pressured by weakness in broader financial markets.
Soybean's losses were also in line with overnight declines on the Chicago Board of Trade.
The benchmark September 2009 soybean contract declined 2.3% to settle at RMB3,392 a metric tonne.
Analysts said soybean prices will likely consolidate in the coming sessions, with some downward pressure due mainly to market participants' lingering concerns over macroeconmic conditions.
"Bullish sentiment just faded following the dire U.S. economic data coming out overnight, as participants started to worry that market fundamentals are deteriorating further," said Gao Yanrong, an analyst with Dalu Futures.
"Soybeans could fall further, but the government's planned 6 million tonnes of soybean purchases offset some of the (bad macroeconomic news)," said Wang Xiaoguang, an analyst with Galaxy Futures.
Wang put nearby support at RMB3,300/tonne and tipped nearby resistance at RMB3,600/tonne on chart-based cues.
Soymeal fell sharply on the exchange, largely weighed down by continuing losses in CBOT soybean futures.
"Soymeal prices are usually tied with CBOT soybean as domestic soymeal is made from imported soybeans," said Wang.
Trading volume of all soybean contracts rose to 638,596 from 278,258 lots Thursday.
Open interest rose 30,016 lots to 343,920 lots Friday.
Corn, soyoil, and palm oil settled lower, tracking soybean and soymeal losses on the exchange.
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 3,392 Dn 80 607,810
Corn Sep 2009 1,669 Dn 12 225,890
Soymeal Sep 2009 2,422 Dn 102 575,874
Palm Oil May 2009 5,104 Dn 116 59,848
Soyoil Sep 2009 5,938 Dn 148 403,598
