June 1, 2007

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle down; market eyes CBOT for clues

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mixed Friday as the market eyed movements on the Chicago Board of Trade for direction.

 

The benchmark January 2008 soybean contract settled unchanged at RMB3,312 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume declined to 126,416 lots from 191,710 lots Thursday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

Many domestic traders stayed on the sidelines to see whether the CBOT benchmark soybean contract can break through its earlier high.

 

"It depends on whether the July contract can rise beyond US$8.20, the recent high it reached in February," said Zeng Xuezhou, a trader at Beite Futures Co.

 

July soybeans settled 2 cents lower at US$8.06 1/4 overnight.

 

Zeng expects the contract to break through US$8.20 around mid-June.

 

China's rising demand for soybeans will also likely support prices.

 

China's soybean imports in May exceeded 3 million tonnes, the highest so far this year, the China Grain and Oils Information Center said Friday.

 

Soymeal and soyoil futures settled mostly lower.

 

The benchmark September 2007 soymeal contract settled RMB6 lower at RMB2,544/tonne, while the benchmark September 2007 soyoil contract settled RMB14 lower at RMB7,730/tonne.

 

Processing plants have plenty of soymeal stocks on hand, as they have speeded up the soyoil production process on rising soyoil demand, while soymeal demand from the feedmeal sector wasn't strong.

 

Corn futures settled mostly higher. The benchmark September 2007 contract settled RMB1 higher at RMB1,663/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts declined to 138,914 lots from 218,900 lots Thursday.