March 18, 2009
Wednesday: China soy futures settle down; lack of upward momentum
Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled slightly lower Wednesday as the market lacked upward momentum.
The benchmark September 2009 soybean contract settled RMB17 lower at RMB3,508 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB3,491-RMB3,536/tonne.
Traders were wary of establishing fresh long positions even though the Chicago Board of Trade posted slight gains overnight.
The government's soybean purchases will finish by the end of next month, while there is unlikely to be more purchase plans to support the market, said Liu Xinghua, an analyst at Great Wall Futures Co.
Domestic soybean prices may then be more affected by global soybean prices, which are lower, he added.
The benchmark contract is pressured at RMB3,560/tonne, while a continuation of the rebound in CBOT soybeans will depend on whether the contract will be able to break through US$9.27 per bushel, said a local analyst.
The May soybean contract on CBOT finished up 2 cents a bushel to close at US$9.13 Tuesday.
Trading volume for all soybean contracts rose to 249,588 lots from 239,832 lots Tuesday.
Open interest fell 728 lots to 325,188 lots.
Corn futures settled unchanged and soymeal futures settled a tad lower while soyoil futures and palm oil futures settled slightly higher.
Wednesday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne for benchmark contracts and the volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soybean Sep 2009 3,508 Dn 17 249,588
Corn Sep 2009 1,712 Unch 121,424
Soymeal Sep 2009 2,622 Dn 8 661,390
Palm Oil Sep 2009 5,260 Up 6 116,948
Soyoil Sep 2009 6,080 Up 12 343,664
