June 13, 2007

 

Wednesday: China soybean futures settle down on supply pressure

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Wednesday, pressured by ample supply, while demand from the feedmeal sector didn't pick up.

 

The benchmark January 2008 soybean contract settled RMB45 lower at RMB3,262 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume rose to 346,770 lots from 289,270 lots Tuesday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

"Domestic traders have lots of stocks at hand, while likely rainfall in the U.S. Midwest will help to ease the dryness there," said Kang Bing, research manager at Jingyi Futures Co.

 

Traders expect more supplies from overseas, with soybean imports to reach around 3 million this month.

 

China's soybean imports in May and April were 2.96 million and 2.65 million, respectively.

 

Soymeal futures and soyoil futures settled lower, along with soybeans.

 

The benchmark September 2007 soymeal contract settled RMB39 lower at RMB2,490/tonne, while the benchmark September 2007 soyoil contract settled RMB114 lower at RMB7,570/tonne.

 

Soyoil cash prices have been losing momentum to rise further since the start of this month, as sellers were eager to cash in at high levels, and falling palm oil prices added pressure.

 

Corn futures settled lower, with the benchmark September 2007 contract down RMB11 at RMB1,625/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts declined to 277,110 lots from 373,494 lots Tuesday.