April 16, 2008
Wednesday: China soybean futures settle slightly down on technical selling
Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly lower Wednesday on technical selling.
The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled down RMB28 at RMB4,158 a metric tonne.
The market has been consolidating amid a lack of clear trading guidance, and speculative funds were trading either on technical charts or the short-term trend, said a local broker with a big edible oil company.
Traders said the government's rejection of an application by big producers, including COFCO Ltd. and Jiusan Oil and Fat Co., for a hike in their edible oil prices also pressured the market. The government launched a price control policy earlier this year to control unreasonable price rises in major commodities.
But analysts said tight domestic soybean supply will continue to support old crop contracts, though new crop contracts are likely to be lower on a possible increase in output.
Short-covering in soyoil contracts and the entry of some new speculative funds helped push soyoil futures into positive territory from the late-morning session after a decline earlier in the day.
Market sentiment is recovering on rising soyoil cash prices and a rebound in soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade, but most traders remained cautious, said Tianqi Futures.
Palm oil futures, soyoil futures and soymeal futures settled mostly lower.
Corn futures settled almost unchanged.
Wednesday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and the volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soybean Jan 2009 4,158 Dn 28 1,086,874
Corn Jan 2009 1,940 Up 1 588,788
Soymeal Sep 2008 3,366 Dn 10 405,860
Palm Oil Sep 2008 10,852 Dn 12 36,594
Soyoil Sep 2008 11,776 Dn 38 601,074
