April 17, 2006

 

Monday: China soybean futures settle higher; corn up

 

 

Soybean futures on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Monday on speculative buying, with strong gains in other commodities futures lending some support, analysts said.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract settled RMB17 higher at RMB2,604 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,585 and RMB2,615/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all soybean contracts rose to 57,772 lots from 26,814 lots Friday. 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 RMB21 to settle at RMB2,509/tonne.

 

"Investors expect CBOT to have a higher opening after the holiday, encouraged by the gains in its soy futures in Asian trading hours," said Li Honglei, an analyst with Nanhua Futures Co.

 

Strong gains in other local commodities futures, from fuel oil to copper, more or less lent some support to the weak soy futures, said Li.

 

Investors are also concerned about the drought in major crop growing areas of China, he said.

 

"It seems it's quite serious in some places, and now it's the critical time for crop growing...This has become one of the few good news items for markets," he added.

 

Soymeal futures settled higher on fresh buying, in line with soybean futures.

 

The benchmark September 2006 contract gained RMB20 to settle at RMB2,212/tonne, after trading between RMB2,189 and RMB2,227/tonne.

 

Soyoil futures settled mixed. The benchmark September 2006 contract settled RMB4 higher at RMB5,032/tonne.

Corn futures settled higher on the spillover effect from soybean futures.

 

The benchmark January 2007 contract settled RMB16 higher at RMB1,397/tonne, after trading between RMB1,383 and RMB1,410/tonne.