May 18, 2006
Thursday: China soybean futures settle mixed on other markets; corn up
Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mixed Thursday, pressured by big losses in other local commodities futures, such as metals and fuel oil, analysts said.
The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract settled RMB5 lower at RMB2,654 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,643/tonne and RMB2,663/tonne.
Trading volume for all soybean contracts fell slightly to 24,848 lots from 26,782 lots Wednesday.
One lot equals 10 tonnes.
No. 2 soybean contracts, which are encouraged to be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, settled mostly up.
The benchmark September contract rose RMB2 to settle at RMB2,548/tonne.
"The minor gains on CBOT Wednesday didn't lend much support to local futures, as the local market was pressured by big losses of other futures today," said Yu Junli, an analyst with Capital Futures Co.
"Soybeans may continue the consolidation for some time, and are more vulnerable to changes of other markets, given their weak fundamentals," Yu said.
Besides, the recovery of U.S. dollar against China's yuan also impacted prices of local futures, he added.
Soymeal and soyoil futures settled mostly down, in line with soybean futures.
The benchmark November 2006 soymeal contract fell RMB10 to settle at RMB2,359/tonne, after trading between RMB2,344/tonne and RMB2,380/tonne.
The benchmark September 2006 soyoil contract settled RMB18 lower at RMB5,201/tonne.
Corn futures settled mostly up, on the government's decision to expand the usage of ethanol-blended gasoline into its biggest cities, such as Shanghai and Beijing, analysts said.
Analysts expect China to become a net importer of corn, which is used as a major source for the production of ethanol, probably as soon as 2007.
The benchmark March 2007 contract settled RMB6 higher at RMB1,505/tonne.
Trading volume for all corn contracts rose to 858,800 lots vs 712,082 lots Wednesday.
