April 21, 2009
Tuesday: China soy futures down on external markets; edible oils fall
Soy futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Tuesday, following sharp losses in Chicago Board Of Trade contracts, crude oil futures and U.S. stocks.
The benchmark January 2010 soy contract settled down 1.9%, or RMB65 a metric tonne lower at RMB3,427/tonne.
Profit-taking set in after global markets fell on investors' concerns about the overall economic outlook, which hadn't improved much during a recent rebound in commodities prices, said analysts.
"The rebound was liquidity driven rather than an actual recovery in the economy, thus once money withdraws, all markets are tumbling," said Dong Shuangwei, an analyst with Capital Futures.
Vegetable oil futures led the fall, as their earlier gains had been larger.
Dong expected palm oil futures to fall back to RMB5,600/tonne while soyoil futures could return to the RMB6,500/tonne level, where they were before the earlier rebound.
However, although the profit-taking has hit most commodities, some analysts said declines in agricultural products could be milder than in metals, which have been purely fund-driven.
"The trends in agricultural products depend on the government's policies," said Hu Shengming, an analyst with Tianqi Futures.
The government's purchases of domestic grains and oilseeds have been supporting local prices, while weather and actual supply and demand conditions have helped agricultural products helped as well.
Trading volume of all soy contracts rose to 562,046 lots from 263,684 lots Monday.
Open interest rose 28,374 lots to 367,230 lots Tuesday.
Corn futures, soymeal futures, soyoil futures and palm oil futures all settled lower.
Following are Tuesday's settlement prices in yuan per metric tonne for benchmark contracts and volume for all contracts in lots (one lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soy Jan 2010 3,427 Dn 65 562,046
Corn Sep 2009 1,660 Dn 7 235,152
Soymeal Sep 2009 2,797 Dn 89 1,609,196
Palm Oil Sep 2009 6,206 Dn 288 325,488
Soyoil Sep 2009 6,834 Dn 308 826,284
