June 9, 2006
Friday: China soybean futures settle lower due to CBOT; corn down
Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Friday, on weaker Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures overnight and pressure from other local commodities futures.
The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract fell RMB29 to settle at RMB2,622 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,615/tonne and RMB2,630/tonne.
Trading volume for all soybean contracts rose to 19,406 lots from 15,080 lots Thursday.
One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.
The benchmark September No. 2 soybean contract, which is encouraged to be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, and the only contract that was traded Friday, settled RMB33 lower at RMB2,511/tonne.
Favorable weather in the U.S., plus the pressure of other falling local commodities futures led by copper, resulted in lower soybeans futures, analysts said.
"If there is no (market) supportive news on U.S. weather conditions in the following months, weak soy futures are unlikely to change much," said Xu Yulan, an analyst with Yongan Futures Co.
Soymeal and soyoil futures settled lower, in step with soybean futures.
The benchmark November 2006 soymeal contract settled RMB34 lower at RMB2,327/tonne, after trading between RMB2,313/tonne and RMB2,342/tonne.
Total trading volume rose to 431,584 lots from 356,488 lots Thursday.
The most widely held September 2006 soyoil contract fell RMB17 to settle at RMB5,167/tonne.
Corn futures settled mostly lower, with speculators moving out of the market, unsure about further upward momentum, analyst said.
"Previous gains in corn futures responded in advance to the rise of cash values, and technically, a downward correction may be following," Xu said.
The benchmark March 2007 contract fell RMB14 to settle at RMB1,496/tonne, after trading between RMB1,490/tonne and RMB1,503/tonne.
Total trading volume for all corn contracts rose to 445,882 lots from 381,750 lots Thursday.
