March 24, 2008
Monday: China soybean futures settle higher on technical correction
China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Monday on a technical correction after a recent tumble.
The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled RMB49 higher, up 1.2%, at 4,105 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB4,056/tonne and RMB4,139/tonne.
"The market is obviously oversold," said Dong Shuangwei at Capital Futures, adding whether the market has hit the bottom will depend on sentiment and the performance of the Chicago Board of Trade.
China imported 2.02 million tonnes of soybean in February, up 71.8% from a year earlier, according to data from the General Administration of Customs issued Monday.
Palm oil futures and soyoil futures settled sharply higher.
Palm oil contracts hit limit-up during the session on technical correction as well.
The benchmark May 2008 contract fell to RMB9,852/tonne Thursday from RMB12,494/tonne at the start of this month, almost down by 30%.
China plans to import 150,000 metric tonnes of palm oil by end-April to curb rising vegetable oil prices, a source said Monday.
The imports have already begun through COFCO Ltd., the state trader, and will be released to the market, the source added.
It is now a good buying opportunity for China, said a local analyst.
Analysts said the news is supportive to palm oil prices in producing countries such as Malaysia, which may in turn boost domestic prices as China is a big importer.
Corn futures settled slightly lower, while soymeal futures settled mostly higher.
Monday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soybean Jan 2009 4,105 Up 49 900,372
Corn Sep 2008 1,780 Dn 3 548,162
Soymeal Sep 2008 3,203 Up 13 629,208
Palm Oil May 2008 10,170 Up 304 46,602
Soyoil Sep 2008 10,884 Up 270 521,962
