March 11, 2009
Wednesday: China soy futures settle lower; RMB3,300-RMB3,500/tonne eyed
Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Wednesday, as market participants continued to exit positions to book profits.
The benchmark September 2009 soybean contract dipped 1% to settle at RMB3,430 a metric tonne.
Dalian soybeans could stay in consolidation pattern in the near term as the market lacks direction from supply and demand fundamentals, analysts said.
"The trade data coming out today (showing January-February soybean imports up 15% on year) were in line with market participants' expectations, and that's why we don't see much price movement today," said Gao Yanrong, an analyst with Dalu Futures.
Gao put nearby support at RMB3,300/tonne and tipped nearby resistance at RMB3,500/tonne on chart-based cues.
A supply and demand report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected later Wednesday, and that "could provide some fresh cues for market participants, but we don't hold much hope for it" as demand remains weak, said Gao.
The nine-day annual parliamentary meeting will probably continue to support soybeans in the coming sessions, but analysts fear positive sentiment will fade quickly as the meeting ends Friday.
The trading volume of all soybean contracts rose to 381,506 lots from 219,100 lots Tuesday.
Open interest increased 21,760 lots to 360,374 lots Wednesday.
Corn futures settled nearly unchanged, while soymeal, palm oil and soyoil futures settled lower.
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
Soybean Sep 2009 3,430 Dn 33 355,382
Corn Sep 2009 1,690 Dn 1 67,604
Soymeal Sep 2009 2,515 Dn 5 737,746
Palm Oil Sep 2009 5,292 Dn 24 133,530
Soyoil Sep 2009 6,088 Dn 14 343,142
