June 5, 2008

 

Thursday: China soybean futures settle up tracking overnight CBOT rise

 

 

China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Thursday, tracking the Chicago Board of Trade's rise overnight.

 

The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled RMB77 higher at RMB4,590 a metric tonne, or up 1.7%, after trading in a narrow range of RMB4,575-RMB4,607/tonne.

 

The old crop contracts opened in positive territory but edged lower a bit on profit-taking.

 

There was little domestic soybean left for processing soybean oil, and trading of cash soybean was very light as a result, said Dalu Futures.

 

Analysts said there is room for a further rise in soybean futures due to weather uncertainty.

 

However, the trend isn't clear yet as the market needs more guidance from the CBOT, said a local analyst.

 

The China National Grain and Oils Information Center Thursday raised its corn output estimate for this year to 154 million tonnes, up from 149 million tonnes it expected last month.

 

The think tank also hiked its 2008 wheat output estimate to 112.5 million tonnes and cut its rice output estimate to 185.7 million tonnes.

 

The center kept its output estimates for soybean and rapeseed unchanged.

 

Palm oil, soy oil, soymeal and corn futures all settled higher.

 

Palm oil futures were supported by bargain hunting by short position holders.

 

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

 

Contract          Settlement          Price          Change          Volume

Soybean            Jan 2009          4,590          Up  77           455,626

Corn                  Jan 2009         1,886           Up   3           161,168

Soymeal           Sep 2008          3,731          Up  32           389,356

Palm Oil            Sep 2008        10,406          Up  24             12,112

Soyoil               Sep 2008        11,050          Up  74           115,180