March 17, 2009
Tuesday: China soy futures settle up; follow CBOT's strong gains
China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Tuesday, following strong gains on Chicago Board of Trade overnight.
The benchmark September 2009 soybean contract settled RMB33 a metric tonne higher at RMB3,525/tonne, or up 0.9%, after trading between RMB3,510 and RMB3,545 a tonne during the session.
Domestic soybean prices have been supported by government buying, and the upward trend was strengthened by the CBOT's gains, a local analyst said.
However, the benchmark contract will face resistance at RMB3,560/tonne, Tianqi Futures said in a note.
Demand for edible oil will outstrip domestic supply by 13 million metric tonnes in 2009, and the country will face increasing pressure as demand rises, the Chinese Grain Network said on its Web site, citing Zeng Liying, vice chief of the State Administration of Grain.
China imported 8.16 million tonnes of edible oil in 2008, down 2.6% on year, while importing 37.44 million tonnes of soybeans to crush for soyoil, up 22% on year.
Huang Xiao, an analyst at Capital Futures, expects edible oil demand this year to increase, although the growth rate could be lower than last year's.
Trading volume of all soybean contracts declined to 239,832 lots from 267,576 lots Monday.
Open interest fell 7,390 lots to 325,916 lots Tuesday.
Corn futures, soymeal futures, soyoil futures and palm oil futures all settled higher.
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 3,525 Up 33 239,832
Corn Sep 2009 1,712 Up 6 155,832
Soymeal Sep 2009 2,630 Up 50 665,876
Palm Oil Sep 2009 5,254 Up 66 112,790
Soyoil Sep 2009 6,068 Up 86 359,724
