April 1, 2009

China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Wednesday, boosted by a favorable U.S. Department of Agriculture report issued last night.

 

The benchmark September 2009 soybean contract settled RMB49 higher at RMB3,579 a metric tonne, or up 1.4%.

 

The USDA's prospective plantings report surprised the market with its soybean area estimate, which was well below expectations, resulting in a significant surge in soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade overnight.

 

Analysts said the market still has the potential to rise as the final actual acreage hasn't been determined yet, while weather changes will be dominant in deciding future trends.

 

However, the growth rate of DCE soybeans wasn't as big versus CBOT counterparts, as domestic soybeans have been performing better recently and the market digested the possible bullish outlook earlier than CBOT.

 

The trading volume of all soybean contracts rose to 316,164 lots from 185,702 lots Tuesday.

 

The open interest rose 1,340 lots to 321,884 lots Wednesday.

 

Corn futures settled almost unchanged, while soybean meal, soybean oil and palm oil futures all settled higher.

 

Wednesday'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          3,579        Up   49     316,164

Corn               Sep 2009          1,696         Dn    1       86,238

Soymeal         Sep 2009           2,748        Up   92   1,088,622

Palm Oil          Sep 2009           5,598        Up  140     272,148

Soyoil             Sep 2009           6,422        Up  118     710,084