March 04, 2008

 

Tuesday: China soybean futures settle mostly down; talk of government measures

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly lower Tuesday on profit-taking, prompted by market talk about possible government measures to curb prices.

 

The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract fell RMB49 to settle at RMB4,875 a metric ton, after trading between RMB4,728/tonne and RMB4,980/ton.

 

There was talk in the market the central government may sell vegetable oils from state reserves and cut import tariffs on vegetable oils to curb surging prices, analysts said.

 

"It was profit-taking after the surge, after speculative money rushed into the market recently," said Xiao Jun, analystat Shanghai JCI.

 

Soymeal and soyoil futures settled mostly down, along with soybean futures.

 

"It's possible the government wants to regulate domestic prices, following the stockpiling of soyoil imports," said Shi Yan, an analyst at China International Futures.

 

"With the entry of speculative money into agricultural futures, after the domestic equities market becoming less attractive, there will be continued volatility," Shi said.

 

Analysts added, however, the correction of record high domestic agricultural products prices should be limited given the high cost of imports.

 

Corn futures settled mixed Tuesday.

 

Tuesday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and volume for all contracts in lots (one lot is equivalent to 10 tons):

 

                 Contract      Price       Change     Volume

 

Soybeans    Jan 2009      4,875      Dn  49     1,198,820

Soymeal     Sep 2008      3,659      Dn  53     1,054,202

Soyoil        May 2008     14,044      Dn  36       736,664

Corn          Sep 2008       1,869      Up  13    1,426,004

Palm Oil     May 2008     12,596      Up 102       42,830