June 22, 2006

 

Thursday: China soybean futures settle slightly higher; corn up

 

 

Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled slightly higher in thin trading, following modest gains in overnight Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract rose RMB1 to settle at RMB2,609 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,607/tonne and RMB2,614/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all soybean contracts shrank to 5,030 lots from 5,976 lots Wednesday.

 

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 mostly higher.

 

The benchmark September contract settled RMB6 higher at RMB2,521/tonne.

 

"The whole Dalian market was trading without direction, as there was no fresh news... It's so quiet a day," said a Beijing-based trader.

 

Meanwhile, gains in other commodities also failed to lend much support to soy futures, as a large amount of imports weighed on prices, he said.

 

Soymeal and soyoil futures also settled mostly higher, along with soybean futures.

 

The benchmark November 2006 soymeal contract rose RMB3 to settle at RMB2,329/tonne, after trading between RMB2,323/tonne and RMB2,337/tonne.

 

Total trading volume fell to 178,988 lots from 184,244 lots Wednesday.

 

The most widely held September 2006 soyoil contract settled RMB19 higher at RMB5,151/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled mostly slightly higher.

 

The benchmark March 2007 contract rose RMB7 to settle at RMB1,482/tonne, after trading between RMB1,478/tonne and RMB1,486/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for all corn contracts fell to 360,778 lots from 438,498 lots Wednesday.