April 19, 2006

 

Wednesday: China soybean futures settle slightly up on CBOT; corn up

 

 

Soybean futures on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled slightly higher, as soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade extended to new two-week highs Tuesday, analysts said.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract settled RMB6 higher at RMB2,606 a metric tonne, after trading in a narrow range.

 

Trading volume for all soybean contracts fell to 31,012 lots from 42,074 lots Tuesday.

 

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 RMB14 to settle at RMB2,530/tonne.

 

"The trading was boring...Spculators have rushed to other local futures, such as copper, while fewer and fewer investors watch soybeans," said a Zhejiang-based trader.

 

The rebound of CBOT in the previous sessions was mainly sparked by outside markets, metals and crude oil, but there's still no supportive news about the industry, he said.

 

China's Ministry of Health said late Tuesday that a 21-year-old man in central China's Hubei Province was confirmed to be infected with H5N1 bird flu and was in critical condition.

 

The man is China's 17th confirmed human case of bird flu since November on the mainland, where 11 people have died from the disease.

 

Soymeal futures settled mixed. The benchmark September 2006 contract rose RMB6 to settle at RMB2,216/tonne, after trading between RMB2,210/tonne and RMB2,224/tonne.

 

"It's depressing to hear about human infection at this point, when soymeal consumption is gradually and slowly rising... it's kind of dampening people's hope," said Yu Junli, an analyst with Green Futures Co.

 

Soyoil futures settled higher. The benchmark September 2006 contract settled RMB41 higher at RMB5,069/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled slightly higher. The benchmark January 2007 contract settled RMB6 higher to RMB1,409/tonne.

 

Since corn is mainly used for feed production, corn futures will continue to be pressured by weak soy futures when bird flu is still a concern, analysts said.