Tuesday: China soy futures settle up on CBOT; support at RMB3,800/tonne

 

 

China's soy futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Tuesday, along with the overnight gain on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

The benchmark September 2010 soy contract settled up RMB20, or 0.5%, at RMB3,820 a metric tonne.

 

The contract opened up and edged higher during the session, with support at RMB3,800/tonne.

 

As the market has largely digested the supply pressure from an expected good harvest in South America, the focus is turning to U.S. soy planting areas this year.

 

There were concerns China may tighten monetary policy soon to control inflation, after the government released strong February economic data last week. There was even a rumor that a rate hike was likely over the weekend.

 

With such concerns easing somewhat, agricultural products are more supported than others such as metals due to the government's supportive policies, said analysts.

 

However, some added soy and soy products are likely to be traded without clear guidance in the near term until data on U.S. planting areas is available.

 

The trading volume of all soy contracts declined to 233,728 lots from 498,142 lots Monday.

 

Open interest fell 11,130 lots to 362,008 lots Tuesday.

 

Corn and soymeal futures settled higher, while soyoil and palm oil futures settled lower.

 

The following are Tuesday's settlement prices in yuan a tonne for benchmark contracts and volume for all contracts in lots (one lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):

 

Product   Contract   Settlement Price  Change     Volume

Soy        Sep 2010      3,820        Up   20        233,728

Corn       Sep 2010      1,893        Up    3        64,580

Soymeal  Sep 2010      2,774        Up   29      708,172

Palm Oil   Sep 2010      6,834      Down   14    302,368

Soyoil      Sep 2010      7,452      Down   10    445,832