Tuesday: China soy futures settle steady; outside markets weigh

 

 

China's soy futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled little changed Tuesday, with outside markets weighing on prices.

 

The benchmark September soy contract settled RMB2 higher at RMB3,882 a metric tonne.

 

The contract opened slightly higher, and ended a choppy session tad lower, after trading no higher than 3,898/tonne and no lower than 3,865/tonne.

 

There was little favorable news, and lower metals prices in Shanghai as well as lower domestic equities prices weighed on sentiment.

 

Price support continues to come from favorable government policies in China, counterbalanced by an expected record harvest in South America, meaning soy will likely continue consolidating in the near term, analysts said.

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to issue monthly crop reports March 10, with ending stocks likely to be reduced, lending initial support to the market through mid-March, they said.

 

Trading volume of all soy contracts rose to 449,794 lots from 442,662 lots Monday.

 

Open interest rose 336 lots to 371,466 lots Tuesday.

 

Corn, soyoil, soymeal and palm oil futures all settled slightly lower.

 

Following are Tuesday'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      3,882        Up    2    449,794

Corn      Sep 2010      1,872        Dn    5     40,410

Soymeal  Sep 2010      2,835        Dn   10    737,174

Palm Oil  Sep 2010      6,930        Dn    8    433,116

Soyoil     Sep 2010      7,494        Dn   20    462,100