March 29, 2006

 

Wednesday: China soybean futures settle mixed amid weak sentiment

 

 

Soybean futures on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mixed Wednesday, with all contracts hovering at either side of their previous settlements and market sentiment remaining weak, said traders.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract settled unchanged at RMB2,693 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,686 and RMB2,698/tonne.

 

Trade volume in Dalian's soybean futures market declined to 44,126 lots from 56,154 lots Tuesday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

The negative factor is the sharp fall in soybean prices in the local spot market over the past few days, due to a large volume of imports during the past month.

 

But as domestic soybean prices have already reached a very low level, creating short positions through substantial selling was also risky, said a Zhejiang-based trader.

 

As a result, domestic soybean futures have been holding in a tight range for a couple of days.

 

The No. 2 soybean contracts, which can be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, settled mixed in line with the overall market.

 

The benchmark September 2006 contract fell RMB1 to RMB2,592/tonne, after trading between RMB2,587 and RMB2,604/tonne.

 

Soyoil futures settled mixed in thin volume.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soyoil contract edged down RMB1 to settle at RMB5,157/tonne, after trading between RMB5,150 and RMB5,166/tonne.

 

Dalian's soymeal futures settled mixed, tracking soybean futures.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soymeal contract fell RMB2 to settle at RMB2,298/tonne, after trading between RMB2,292 and RMB2,305/tonne.

 

Meanwhile, corn futures traded on the exchange settled lower on long liquidation.

 

The widely watched September 2006 contract lost RMB9 to RMB1,398/tonne, after trading between RMB1,394 and RMB1,409/tonne.