Monday: China soy futures settle up on CBOT; policy decisions awaited
China's soy futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Monday, in tandem with gains at the Chicago Board of Trade Friday.
The benchmark September 2010 soy contract settled 1.2% higher at RMB3,880 a metric tonne, supported by external market cues.
Strong gains in metals and in local equities markets as well as stronger crude oil prices all contributed to the sentiment for agricultural products.
With the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to start their annual meetings later this week, market sentiment will likely be boosted by anticipated policy support on agricultural issues, said Galaxy Futures in a note.
But any sustained rise is unlikely before consumption of soyoil and soymeal improves significantly, analysts said, noting that domestic cash prices have been sluggish, pressured by a record South American harvest.
Trading volume of all soy contracts rose to 442,662 lots from 192,002 lots Friday.
Open interest rose by 20,716 lots to 371,130 lots Monday.
Corn, soyoil, soymeal and palm oil futures all settled higher.
Higher soy and soyoil prices on CBOT Friday and a comparatively low level of domestic stocks underpinned soyoil prices.
Many soy crushers haven't yet restarted production after suspending operations ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, but soyoil supply will increase once they resume operations, analysts said.
On CBOT, soyoil for March delivery settled at 39.29 cents a pound, up 2%, Friday, while March soy ended 1% higher at $9.51 a bushel.
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
Soy Sep 2010 3,880 Up 47 442,662
Corn Sep 2010 1,877 Up 7 64,930
Soymeal Sep 2010 2,845 Up 29 997,494
Palm Oil Sep 2010 6,938 Up 48 346,714
Soyoil Sep 2010 7,514 Up 54 449,054
