March 16, 2009
Monday: China soy futures settle up on cash prices; govt support
China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Monday, supported by cash prices.
The benchmark September 2009 soybean contract settled RMB31, a metric tonne, or 0.9%, higher at RMB3,492/tonne after trading between RMB3,449-3,520/tonne during the session.
Soybean cash prices face upward and downward pressure simultaneously, said Li Dongji, an analyst at Guotai Jun'an Futures.
Government purchasing has been supporting domestic soybean prices, which has led to many soybean processing plants in major producing areas have suspended production due to low profitability.
Prices are now fully determined by the government, analysts said.
Higher domestic soybean prices make imports more attractive, but increased soybean imports reduces the need for imports of soyoil, a product of soybean processing.
Soyoil imports fell 89% to 40,000 metric tonnes last month after declining 87% in January, according to preliminary data issued by the General Administration of Customs.
Meanwhile, ports are holding soybean stocks of around 3 million tonnes, almost unchanged from a year ago.
Trading volume of all soybean contracts rose to 267,576 lots from 227,190 lots Friday.
Open interest rose 1,452 lots to 333,306 lots Monday.
Corn, soymeal and palm oil futures settled mostly higher, while soyoil futures settled mostly lower.
Monday'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 3,492 Up 31 267,576
Corn Sep 2009 1,706 Up 19 284,112
Soymeal Sep 2009 2,580 Up 30 631,540
Palm Oil Sep 2009 5,182 Up 2 132,486
Soyoil Sep 2009 5,982 Dn 20 273,216
