April 21, 2006

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle lower amid weak sentiment

 

 

Soybean futures on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Friday on overnight losses in Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures, said analysts.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract settled RMB23 lower at RMB2,580 a metric tonne.

 

Trading volume for all soybean contracts rose slightly to 46,028 lots from 25,110 lots Thursday. One lot equals 10 tonnes.

 

"Investors continued to retreat from soybean futures, reflecting their judgment that soybeans may not be able to fully recover from bird flu in one or two months," said Lin Hui, an analyst with China International Futures Co. (Shanghai).

 

"Certainly, investment opportunities in other local commodities futures is a reason, but soybeans' fundamentals are just too weak," she said.

 

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

 

The benchmark September contract fell RMB36 to settle at RMB2,484/tonne.

 

Soymeal futures settled mostly lower, in line with the overall market.

 

The benchmark September 2006 contract fell RMB24 to settle at RMB2,189/tonne, after trading between RMB2,178 and RMB2,203/tonne.

 

Dalian's soyoil futures settled mixed. The benchmark September 2006 contract fell RMB22 to settle at RMB5,065/tonne, after trading between RMB5,050 and RMB5,080/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled lower, on the overall bearish market for animal feed, said analysts.

 

The benchmark January 2007 contract settled RMB14 lower at RMB1,388/tonne.