June 14, 2007

 

Thursday: China soybean futures settle up on technical rebound

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Thursday on technical rebound, but ample supply continues to pressure prices.

 

The benchmark January 2008 soybean contract settled RMB18 higher at RMB3,280 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume declined to 250,378 lots from 346,770 lots Wednesday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

"Imported soybean stocks at Chinese ports were at a high level of 3.8 million tonnes as of yesterday," said Zeng Xuezhou, a trader at Beite Futures Co.

 

Meanwhile, the government repeatedly expressed concerns about surging agricultural product prices, which contributed to a 3.4% consumer price index rise in May, the fastest growth in over two years.

 

As such, the government could introduce policies aimed at curbing the rapid rise in agricultural product prices, including soyoil and corn, which raised traders' concerns of limited room for further price gains.

 

Soymeal futures settled mixed while soyoil futures settled mostly higher.

 

The benchmark September 2007 soymeal contract settled RMB2 higher at RMB2,492/tonne, while the benchmark September 2007 soyoil contract settled RMB30 higher at RMB7,600/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled higher after a recent decline.

 

Benchmark September 2007 contract settled RMB8 higher at RMB1,633/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts declined to 219,996 lots from 277,110 lots Wednesday.