June 1, 2006

 

Thursday: China soybean futures settle sharply down, CBOT, other markets

 

 

Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled sharply lower Thursday, on overnight losses in Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures, amid the slump of local copper and rubber futures, traders and analysts said.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract settled RMB46 lower at RMB2,603 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,580/tonne and RMB2,641/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all soybean contracts rose to 55,892 lots from 19,438 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 lower.

 

The benchmark September contract fell RMB33 to settle at RMB2,514/tonne.

 

Such sharp losses have rarely seen since December, and "long liquidation sparked by sharp losses in rubber and copper futures led to a subtle change of an overall market mood," said a Shanghai-based trader.

 

Lacking speculative and fundamental support, soybeans have been, and will probably continue to be, sensitive to other commodities futures markets, analysts said.

 

Soymeal and soyoil futures settled sharply lower, in step with soybean futures.

 

The benchmark November 2006 soymeal contract fell RMB45 to settle at RMB2,284/tonne, after trading between RMB2,252/tonne and RMB2,321/tonne.

 

Total trading volume rose to 623,044 lots from 235,696 lots Wednesday.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soyoil contract settled RMB57 lower at RMB5,189/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled lower on long liquidation. The benchmark March 2007 contract fell RMB34 lower at RMB1,500/tonne, after trading between RMB1,481/tonne and RMB1,522/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for all corn contracts rose to 1,212,446 lots from 718,616 lots Wednesday.