March 6, 2008

 

Thursday: China soybean futures settle higher tracking CBOT gains

 

 

Soybean futures traded at the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly higher Thursday, tracking gains made in electronic trading in soybeans and soyoil at Chicago Board of Trade.

 

Corn and soymeal futures on Dalian also ended mostly higher.

 

Grains futures were on the rise Thursday on momentum generated by commodities such as metals, crude oil and gold rising sharply in U.S. trading, Wednesday, as investors increasingly see commodities as a hedge against a weakening U.S. dollar and soaring inflation.

 

Meanwhile, the Chinese government's resolve to limit edible oil price is becoming quite apparent.

 

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance extended a 1% import duty on soybeans to Sept. 30. China had cut the import duty on soybeans from 3% in late 2007 to curb high prices.

 

China is the world's biggest soybean importer, buying most of its needs from the U.S. and South America.

 

The country has been battling high edible oil prices since 2007 and has been an aggressive soybean importer so far this year.

 

A drought in Heilongjiang province, where 40% of cultivated land has been impacted by dry conditions, could result in further increases of soybean imports in 2008. The extent of the drought's impact on spring planting in the province, China's largest soybean producing region, is not yet clear.

 

Thursday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and the volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):

 

                Contract     Settlement Price  Change     Volume

Soybean   Jan 2009      4,725         Up    29          560,384

Corn        Sep 2008      1,868         Up    16       1,044,776

Soymeal  Sep 2008      3,623         Up    70        1,325,772

Palm Oil   May 2008     12,132        Up    26          61,410

Soyoil      Sep 2008     13,248        Dn   252         630,872