June 14, 2006

 

Wednesday: China soybean futures settle lower; CBOT, other markets down

 

 

Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Wednesday on overnight losses in Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures, amid other falling commodities futures.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract fell RMB17 to settle at RMB2,616 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,601/tonne and RMB2,628/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all soybean contracts rose to 27,122 lots from 16,348 lots Tuesday.

 

One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

No. 2 soybean contracts, which are encouraged to be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, settled lower.

 

The benchmark September contract settled RMB15 lower at RMB2,510/tonne.

 

Long liquidation was seen in early trading, as local copper and rubber futures hit their daily loss limits at the opening bell, but narrow range-bound trading was soon returned and continued for the rest of the session, said traders.

 

"The overall market atmosphere wasn't good, and it's just difficult to find buyers," said a Beijing-based trader.

 

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government said Tuesday that a man suspected of having bird flu was in critical condition in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

 

However, industry players said that, as long as there are no more reports, an individual case wouldn't have a significant market impact.

 

Soymeal and soyoil futures settled mostly lower, in step with soybean futures.

 

The benchmark November 2006 soymeal contract settled RMB20 lower at RMB2,333/tonne, after trading between RMB2,316/tonne and RMB2,350/tonne.

 

Total trade volume rose to 566,818 lots, from 403,366 lots Tuesday.

 

The most-widely held September 2006 soyoil contract fell RMB37 to settle at RMB5,134/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled lower on long liquidation in early trade, along with other agri commodities, but short covering later drove prices higher, traders said.

 

The benchmark March 2007 contract fell RMB24 to settle at RMB1,472/tonne, after trading between RMB1,464/tonne and RMB1,485/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for all corn contracts rose to 994,534 lots from 586,170 lots Tuesday.