April 14, 2006

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle mixed in thin trade; corn down

 

 

Soybean futures on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mixed Friday in thin trade, with gains in the Chicago Board of Trade Thursday lending support to the local market, analysts said.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract settled RMB5 higher at RMB2,587 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,582/tonne and RMB2,591/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all soybean contracts shrank to 26,814 lots from 30,570 lots Thursday.

 

One lot equals 10 tonnes.

 

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

 

The benchmark September contract rose RMB6 to settle at RMB2,488/tonne.

 

"Trading was really quiet...As the CBOT is closed for a holiday, investors weren't willing to enter market," said Xu Lixin, an analyst with Jingyi Futures Co.

 

Meanwhile, physical prices indicated investors' expectations that soymeal consumption will pick up before the May Day Holiday are dim, which put more pressure on prices, analysts said.

 

Soymeal futures settled mixed. The benchmark September 2006 contract gained RMB6 to settle at RMB2,192/tonne.

 

Soyoil futures settled higher. The benchmark September 2006 contract settled RMB6 higher at RMB5,028/tonne.

 

"Soymeal has even bigger pressure than soyoil, given the low feed demand," Xu said.

 

Recent arrivals from Brazil clouded the market, which has insufficient demand. Soyoil has relatively stronger support, both fundamentally and technically, he said.

 

Corn futures settled lower.

 

The most widely held September 2006 contract settled RMB3 lower to RMB1,358/tonne, after trading between RMB1,353/tonne and RMB1,364/tonne.

 

Total open interest fell 23,310 lots to 517,416 lots.