April 6, 2007

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle down on CBOT fall; corn almost unchanged

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Friday, in line with overnight losses in Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures.

 

Losses in CBOT soybean futures triggered profit-taking, because the short-term outlook is unclear, and domestic investors expect consolidation in CBOT before weather issues begin to affect prices in June, said Gao Yanrong, an analyst at Dalu Futures Co.

 

The benchmark September 2007 contract fell RMB27 to settle at RMB3,231 metric tonne, after trading between RMB3,222/tonne and RMB3,254/tonne.

 

Total trading volume rose to 215,444 lots from 161,774 lots Thursday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

"There's not much downside for soybean - the decline in acreage is fundamentally supportive, anyway," said Dong Liang, an analyst with Jiuheng Futures Co.

 

"It will probably consolidate for some time, as it lacks the momentum to rise further," Dong said.

 

With sales of domestically-grown soybeans nearing the end, Dalian's soybean futures will closely track CBOT movements, analysts said.

 

Soymeal and soyoil futures also settled mostly lower, along with soybean futures.

 

The benchmark September 2007 soymeal contract fell RMB13 to settle at RMB2,636/tonne.

 

The benchmark September 2007 soyoil contract settled RMB54 lower at RMB6,804/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled almost unchanged. The benchmark September 2007 contract fell RMB5 to settle at RMB1,668/tonne, after trading between RMB1,664/tonne and RMB1,677/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all contracts rose to 221,466 lots from 179,360 lots Thursday.

 

Analysts said corn is likely to remain weak in the near-term, weighed down by sluggish domestic feed demand and lower cash values than the front-month contract.