March 28, 2008

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle lower; sluggish physical demand

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Friday on sluggish demand for cash soybeans.

 

The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled down 1.6% or RMB70 at RMB4,179 a metric tonne after trading between RMB4,110 and RMB4,245/tonne.

 

Demand for imported soybeans fell significantly as buyers remained on the sidelines, put off by sharp fluctuations in soybean prices.

 

Overall trading volumes in the cash soybean market were quite low this week.

 

The arrival of South America soybeans also pressured the domestic market, and demand for domestic soybeans is likely to remain low in the coming weeks, said the China National Grain and Oils Information Center in its weekly report issued Friday.

 

However, the ongoing farmers'strike in Argentina, a major soybean producing country, as well as dwindling global soybean stocks may limit losses in the near term, said an analyst.

 

Further, traders expect demand for soymeal from the feedmeal sector to pick up gradually in the coming weeks, which will also increase demand for soybeans, as feedmeal processing plants have sold all their stocks.

 

Palm oil futures, soyoil futures and soymeal futures settled mostly lower.

 

Corn futures settled mostly higher.

 

Friday'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      4,179         Dn     70         432,490

Corn       Sep 2008      1,773         Unchanged     199,890

Soymeal  Sep 2008      3,252         Dn    45        251,460

Palm Oil   May 2008     10,518        Dn    120        25,212

Soyoil     Sep 2008     10,794         Dn    136       629,944