April 13, 2007

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle lower on CBOT, fundamentals good

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Friday, tracking overnight losses on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

The benchmark September 2007 contract settled RMB43 lower at RMB3,134 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume declined to 254,590 lots from 293,482 lots Thursday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

CBOT soybean futures ended lower Thursday, succumbing to technically inspired speculative selling.

 

"The American funds may push prices lower to pave the way for their later purchases," said a Beijing-based trader.

 

Nevertheless, fundamentals are good, and soybean prices are likely to rise in the longer term, he added, putting immediate support for the CBOT July contract at US$7.35 per bushel.

 

Soymeal futures settled lower and soyoil futures settled mixed.

 

The benchmark September 2007 soymeal contract fell RMB61 to settle at RMB2,529/tonne, while the benchmark September 2007 soyoil contract settled up RMB24 at RMB6,978/tonne.

 

Soyoil prices are supported by rising prices of palm oil, which is becoming more popular for energy consumption, said traders.

 

Corn futures settled lower. The benchmark September 2007 contract settled RMB8 lower at RMB1,668/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts declined to 409,988 lots from 509,924 lots Thursday.

 

Corn prices may fall further as processing plants now have a large amount of stocks on hand, while traders are eager to sell due to the warm weather, which makes it difficult for storage, said Zhang Yifan, a trader at China Grains & Oils Group Feed Corp.