May 11, 2009
Monday: China soy futures fall along with soymeal on flu concerns
Soy futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Monday along with a tumble in soymeal prices as the mainland confirmed its first case of swine flu.
The benchmark January 2010 soy contract settled RMB53 a tonne lower at RMB3,444/tonne, down 1.5%.
China's Ministry of Health reported the mainland's first suspected case of AH1N1 flu, previously known as swine flu, in Sichuan Province Sunday, and the case was confirmed Monday.
The case involves a man who had returned from the U.S. to Sichuan's capital of Chengdu on Saturday.
Analysts said there was initial panic in the market as people were concerned it might affect pork consumption.
Others said the market was using the case as an excuse to correct earlier gains in soymeal futures, as cash demand has been weak.
"The panic may last for a short time, but the market has been (relatively) rational today," as the futures didn't hit 5% limit-down, said Yu Haifeng, an analyst with Tianqi Futures.
The trading volume for all soy contracts rose to 269,056 lots from 218,672 lots Friday.
Open interest rose 23,172 lots to 341,200 lots.
Corn futures settled little changed, while soymeal futures, soyoil futures and palm oil futures settled lower.
Soymeal futures fell sharply on concerns over the first confirmed case of swine flu in mainland China, while soyoil futures fluctuated above and below Friday's settlement price during the session as speculators entered and exited the market.
Monday's settlement prices in yuan a tonne for benchmark contracts and the volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soy Jan 2010 3,444 Dn 53 269,056
Corn Sep 2009 1,658 Dn 1 70,764
Soymeal Sep 2009 2,751 Dn 108 1,095,476
Palm Oil Sep 2009 6,812 Dn 56 527,992
Soyoil Sep 2009 7,570 Dn 16 1,540,208
