June 6, 2007

 

Wednesday: China soybean futures settle up after CBOT sets new highs

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Wednesday after Chicago Board of Trade futures rallied to new highs overnight.

 

The benchmark January 2008 soybean contract settled RMB33 higher at RMB3,374 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume rose to 319,016 lots from 161,104 lots Tuesday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

Benchmark July soybeans on CBOT settled 12 1/2 cents higher at US$8.28 1/4 Tuesday on supportive long-range fundamentals and speculative buying.

 

However, the domestic benchmark January 2008 contract couldn't break its recent intraday high of RMB3,392/tonne in late May, trading between RMB3,356-RMB3,391/tonne Wednesday.

 

Traders said if the CBOT July contract remains above US$8.00, domestic soybean futures will likely rise further.

 

"CBOT contracts will likely maintain their strength in the near term on weather concerns and high soyoil prices," said Liu Xinghua, a trader at Great Wall Futures Co.

 

Soymeal and soyoil futures settled mostly higher, tracking gains in soybeans.

 

The benchmark September 2007 soymeal contract settled RMB3 higher at RMB2,574/tonne, while the benchmark September 2007 soyoil contract settled RMB166 higher at RMB7,950/tonne.

 

Most corn futures settled slightly higher. The benchmark September 2007 contract settled RMB1 higher at RMB1,666/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts declined to 83,460 lots from 89,706 lots Tuesday.