June 19, 2008
Thursday: China soybean futures settle down on CBOT rise; corn flat
Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Thursday, following losses in Chicago Board of Trade soybean overnight.
The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract fell RMB52 lower to settle at RMB5,002 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB4,973/tonne and RMB5,034/tonne.
"Lower ocean freight rates and seasonally weak demand of soybean oil pressure the soy market, and we aren't optimistic about the second half of this year," said Li Honglei, an analyst at Nanhua Futures.
Ocean freight rates have been falling rapidly in the past week or so, weighing on the prices of soybean imports and domestic soybean.
China is the world's biggest importer of soybeans, sourced mostly from the U.S., Brazil and Argentina.
Meanwhile, as summer usually sees a seasonally weak demand for soy oil, its prices are also under pressure.
Soybean meal and soy oil also settled lower in the session, along with soybean. Corn futures settled little changed.
China may export 800,000 tonnes of corn in the 2007-08 crop year that began in October, down sharply from 5.27 million tonnes in 2006-07, said Wang Xiaohui, a senior analyst at the China National Grain and Oils Information Center, during a conference Thursday.
China has exported 114,620 tonnes of corn during the October-April period.
"We're facing an oversupplied market, and the chances for a strong rally are slim," Li said.
Thursday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and volume for all contracts in lots:
Contract Settement Price Change Volume
Soybeans Jan 2009 5,002 Dn 52 481,256
Corn Jan 2009 1,911 Up 5 344,526
Soymeal Sep 2008 4,263 Dn 1 500,730
Palm Oil Sep 2008 10,738 Dn 134 15,098
Soyoil Sep 2008 11,858 Dn 182 196,766
