April 29, 2008

 

Tuesday: China soybean futures settle lower on CBOT tumble overnight

 

 

China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Tuesday, following an overnight tumble in Chicago Board of Trade contracts.

 

The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled RMB77 lower at RMB4,044 a metric tonne, or down 1.87%, after trading in the RMB4,008-4,081/tonne range.

 

The front-month contracts fell less than the late-month contracts, reflecting tight supply of old crops.

 

Analysts said the corn planting progress in the U.S., which has been delayed, could lead to an increase in soybean acreage, putting pressure on new crop contracts.

 

Domestic traders said even if the farmers' strike in Argentina resumes later this week, it is unlikely to last long, thus creating more room for CBOT soybean contracts to fall.

 

"It's very likely the (benchmark) CBOT soybean contracts will fall below $12 (per bushel) and further test $10 if the Argentina strike concludes," said Li Panfeng, an analyst at Beite Futures.

 

May soybeans traded on the CBOT settled 42 1/4 cents lower at $12.83 1/2 a bushel overnight, while July soybeans finished 39 1/2 cents lower at $12.97 1/2 a bushel.

 

Meanwhile, the dollar is very likely to rebound further in the near term and pressure commodities, said analysts.

 

Palm oil and soybean oil futures settled sharply lower, pressured by the coming harvest of the rapeseed crop.

 

The rapeseed harvest season starts in May and the output will likely increase despite the impact of the snowstorm earlier this year.

 

Rapeseed output in 2008 may rise 4% from 10.5 million tonnes last year due to increased unit yields, according to some analysts.

 

Soymeal futures settled lower but corn futures settled slightly higher.

 

Tuesday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):

 

              Contract     Settlement Price  Change     Volume

Soybean  Jan 2009      4,044         Dn   77         787,982

Corn       Jan 2009      1,969          Up    5         749,890

Soymeal  Sep 2008      3,302         Dn   37        241,396

Palm Oil  Sep 2008     10,168         Dn  190         29,962

Soyoil     Sep 2008     10,874         Dn  366       314,884