June 29, 2009
Monday: China soy futures settle lower; market eyeing USDA report
Soy futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled slightly lower Monday as the market stayed cautious ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's report to be released Tuesday.
The benchmark January 2010 soy contract settled RMB16 a metric tonne lower at RMB3,637/tonne.
The USDA is scheduled to issue its key acreage and quarterly stocks reports Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. EDT, which are expected to show a moderate increase in soy acreage from its March prospective plantings report.
Analysts expect U.S. farmers to grow more soy this year due to rising prices during the planting season.
"The market may take the USDA report as an opportunity to correct its recent gains, as the weather in U.S. planting areas has been favorable recently," said Gao Yunyue, an analyst with Dadi Futures Brokerage Co.
However, heavy rains in China's northeast major soy producing areas and the government's grain supporting policies helped support domestic soy prices.
The meteorological department has said rains may cause floods and landslides in some areas of Heilongjiang province.
China will scrap the soy export tax from Wednesday, which analysts said is a signal showing the government's willingness to boost external demand and prices.
The trading volume for all soy contracts declined to 179,428 lots from 282,538 lots Friday.
Corn futures rose slightly, but soymeal futures, soyoil futures and palm oil futures settled lower.
Monday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne for benchmark contracts and volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soy Jan 2010 3,637 Dn 16 179,428
Corn Jan 2010 1,627 Up 1 51,094
Soymeal Jan 2010 2,900 Dn 4 1,465,978
Palm Oil Jan 2010 6,124 Dn 72 555,682
Soyoil Jan 2010 7,402 Dn 82 795,454
