May 19, 2008

 

Monday: China soybean futures settle up slightly following CBOT gains

 

 

China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly higher Monday, following gains on the Chicago Board of Trade at the end of last week.

 

The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled up RMB6, or 0.13%, at RMB4,505 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB4,480-4,548/tonne.

 

A strike in Argentina is expected to divert Chinese demand to Brazilian and U.S. ports, which will further tighten their ending stocks.

 

China bought five-six cargoes of soybeans from the two countries last week, up from three-five cargoes a week earlier. These soybeans are to be delivered in June and July.

 

Argentina's farmers decided to extend a nationwide farm strike until at least Wednesday, when they will meet to consider their next moves.

 

But weakness in corn and edible oil contracts spilled over to soybeans, dragging prices off highs late in the session, said Wang Xiaoguang, an analyst at Galaxy Futures.

 

Analysts said traders were also reluctant to push agricultural products' prices much higher due to concerns about the government's price control measures since a massive earthquake last week hit the country's Sichuan province, a big grain producing region.

 

Supplies and prices of major commodities in China's earthquake-hit areas are stabilizing after the government allocated rice, pork, soyoil and other commodities to these regions, the National Development and Reform Commission said over the weekend.

 

The government strengthened price monitoring and price controls and stepped up transportation of food to guarantee local market stability following the earthquake.

 

The country's stock and futures exchanges suspended trading for three minutes starting at 0628 GMT Monday to mourn victims of the powerful earthquake.

 

Palm oil futures and soyoil futures settled mostly lower.

 

Corn futures settled lower, but soymeal futures settled mostly higher.

 

Following are Monday's settlement prices in yuan per metric tonne and volume for all contracts in lots (one lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):

 

Contract           Settlement           Price           Change           Volume

Soybean            Jan 2009            4,505            Up   6           946,592

Corn                  Jan 2009           1,920            Dn  23           503,042

Soymeal           Sep 2008            3,627            Up   3           276,264

Palm Oil            Sep 2008          10,552            Dn  58            26,984

Soyoil               Sep 2008          11,234            Dn  64          289,260