May 18, 2009
Monday: China soy futures settle down; follows CBOT's losses Friday
Soy futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Monday, tracking a decline over the weekend in Chicago Board of Trade counterparts.
The benchmark January 2010 soy contract settled 1.8% lower at RMB3,439 a metric tonne.
Dalian soy contracts will likely consolidate in the near term, looking for cues from external markets, analysts said.
"Soys need some correction after recent gains, and participants are looking for fresh cues during this round of consolidation," said a Shanghai-based analyst.
Soyoil and palm oil contracts also fell Monday in line with Friday's losses in CBOT soys, analysts said.
"The majority of (local) soyoil is from crushing imported soys, so if CBOT soys fall, soyoil prices will likely track the decline," said Wang Xiaoguan, an analyst with Galaxy Futures.
Trading volume of all soy contracts fell to 174,654 lots from 313,076 Friday.
Open interest rose 6,700 lots to 341,344 lots Monday.
Corn futures traded almost flat on the Dalian exchange while soymeal futures declined along with soyoil and palm oil contracts.
Monday's settlement prices in yuan a 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 3,439 Dn 64 159,718
Corn Sep 2009 1,679 Unch 74,244
Soymeal Sep 2009 2,855 Dn 53 1,205,602
Palm Oil Sep 2009 6,554 Dn 320 195,664
Soyoil Sep 2009 7,326 Dn 330 757,064
