April 13, 2006

 

Thursday: China soybean futures settle lower on CBOT losses; corn down

 

 

Soybean futures on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Thursday, tracking losses in Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures, analysts said.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract settled RMB9 lower at RMB2,582 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,575/tonne and RMB2,589/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all soybean contracts shrank to 30,570 lots from 38,518 lots Wednesday.

 

One lot equals 10 tonnes.

 

No. 2 soybean contracts, which are encouraged to be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, settled mixed.

 

The benchmark September contract fell RMB6 to settle at RMB2,482/tonne.

 

"There's no fresh news...just fundamentals weighing on prices heavily," said Lin Hui, an analyst with China International Futures Co. (Shanghai).

 

Investors were reluctant to build new positions and chose to wait on the sidelines while closely watching CBOT, analysts said.

 

Soymeal and soyoil futures settled lower, along with soybeans.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soymeal contract fell RMB13 to settle at RMB2,186/tonne, after trading between RMB2,182/tonne and RMB2,194/tonne.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soyoil contract settled RMB7 lower at RMB5,022/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled lower in range-bound trading.

 

"A continuous drop in open interest is worrisome...Weak corn imposes even more pressure on soybeans," said Lin.

 

It isn't a good signal if investors continue to liquidate their corn positions, as corn fundamentals used to be considered as more favorable than soybean fundamentals, she said.

 

The most widely held September 2006 contract settled RMB8 lower at RMB1,361/tonne, after trading between RMB1,357/tonne and RMB1,368/tonne.

 

Total open interest fell by 33,224 lots to 540,726 lots.