April 3, 2008
Thursday: China soybean futures settle mixed; consolidate before holiday
Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mixed Thursday as funds consolidated ahead of the long weekend.
The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled RMB13 lower, or down 0.33%, at RMB3,874 a metric tonne.
Chinese financial markets will be closed Friday for the tomb-sweeping holiday. Funds weren't heavily influencing market movements either way in view of the break, especially given recent market volatility.
Funds have not shown as strong a presence as they did as recently as early March, when U.S. subprime woes really began to limit liquidity, said Xiao Jun, an analyst at Shanghai JCI.
Sluggish cash sales of soyoil and soymeal also plagued soybean prices.
Meanwhile, the suspension of a nationwide farmers' strike in Argentina helped pressure the market downward.
On Wednesday, leaders of Argentina's major farm groups announced a 30-day suspension of the strike, which had dragged on for 21 days.
Palm oil, soyoil and soymeal futures settled higher, while corn futures settled almost unchanged.
Edible oils were up after being oversold recently.
Yihai Jiali Investment Corp., a major edible oil producer in China, approved a proposal to hike its edible oil prices with the country's economic planner. But it said it may not raise prices in the near term, explaining that the price hike plan was made last month when raw material prices were high.
Edible oil futures prices have tumbled since then due to a variety of factors, including U.S. economic woes.
Thursday'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 3,874 Dn 13 1,318,824
Corn Sep 2008 1,773 Dn 2 556,632
Soymeal Sep 2008 3,025 Up 5 361,490
Palm Oil May 2008 10,060 Up 116 47,420
Soyoil Sep 2008 10,540 Up 222 377,774
