March 6, 2007

 

Tuesday: China soybean futures settle higher after recent correction

 

 

Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Tuesday after a recent correction.

 

The most active September 2007 contract settled RMB25 higher at RMB3,211 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume rose to 154,468 lots from 131,914 lots Monday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

"The correction is only technical, and the overall rising trend hasn't changed," said Liu Xinghua, a trader at Great Wall Futures Co.

 

Traders said the domestic stock market has also showed signs of stabilizing, helping to shore up sentiment for agricultural products futures.

 

As the performance of the domestic stock market usually reflects China's macroeconomic situation, the recent steep fall in Chinese shares has created concerns in the futures market, they said.

 

Soymeal and soyoil contracts settled mostly higher.

 

The most active September soymeal contract settled RMB19 higher at RMB2,697/tonne, while the benchmark May 2007 soyoil contract settled RMB44 higher at RMB6,472/tonne.

 

Corn futures also settled mostly higher.

 

The benchmark September corn contract settled RMB4 higher at RMB1,706/tonne.

 

Trading volume for corn contracts totaled 210,214 lots compared with 309,372 lots Monday.

 

Corn futures are likely to consolidate at current levels over the next two weeks as trading on the cash market may stay sluggish due to less demand amid ample stocks, said Liu.