March 24, 2009
Tuesday: China soy futures inch down but trim losses on CBOT gains
Soybean futures settled slightly lower on the Dalian Commodity Exchange Tuesday, pulling back from heavier losses in the early session as they tracked an afternoon recovery in the Chicago Board of Trade's electronic bourse.
The benchmark September 2009 soybean contract lost 0.6% to settle at RMB3,613 a metric tonne.
CBOT soybean futures rose Monday as Argentine strike concerns pressured supply, but finished well off intraday highs on late profit taking.
A dispute between farmers and Argentine authorities over export taxes led to the launch of a soybean farmers' strike Saturday.
The strike is adding upside to agricultural futures' prices, said Tu Xuan, an analyst with Shanghai JCI Futures.
Despite the lower settlement Tuesday, firmer crude oil and a weaker dollar are expected to continue lending support to the commodities complex, analysts said.
"The cues for soybean and other agricultural futures were all external today," said Gao Yanrong, an analyst with Dalu Futures.
Still, domestic prices have been propped up for months by government stockpiling, including 3 million tonnes of soybean and 30 million tonnes of corn.
Taking soybean's lead, corn, soybean meal, palm oil and soybean oil futures settled lower across the board Tuesday.
Corn posted the smallest loss of RMB1 as its demand outlook appeared reasonably robust with state stockpiling stabilizing prices, Gao said.
Reflecting a relatively firm domestic demand, the country's February corn imports rose 92% on year to 279 tonnes, while exports fell 91% on year, the customs department said Monday.
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 3,613 Dn 21 336,134
Corn Sep 2009 1,714 Dn 1 106,288
Soy Meal Sep 2009 2,759 Dn 37 1,020,938
Palm Oil Sep 2009 5,468 Dn 52 118,968
Soy Oil Sep 2009 6,414 Dn 46 719,824
