July 3, 2006

 

Monday: China soybean futures up on CBOT, other markets; trade thin

 

 

Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Monday, tracking solid gains by Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures Friday.

 

"The hot and dry weekend in the U.S., along with sharp gains in copper (futures) today, helped to underpin soy futures," said a Beijing-based analyst.

 

However, given the serious oversupply situation in China, we'll remain weaker than CBOT, he added.

 

The benchmark September contract rose RMB15 to settle at RMB2,603 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,595/tonne and RMB2,620/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for all soybean contracts rose to 26,556 lots, from 15,902 lots Friday.

 

One lot equals 10 tonnes.

 

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

 

The benchmark September contract rose RMB12 to settle at RMB2,515/tonne.

 

China's Ministry of Agriculture said over the weekend that a new outbreak of bird flu in poultry was found in the western region of Ningxia.

 

The report didn't indicate how many or what type of birds were affected, but analysts said an individual case wouldn't have a significant negative impact on the market.

 

Soymeal and soyoil futures settled higher.

 

The benchmark November 2006 soymeal contract rose RMB25 to RMB2,337/tonne, after trading between RMB2,327/tonne and RMB2,353/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for all soymeal contracts rose to 235,748 lots, from 174,990 lots Friday.

 

The most widely held September 2006 contract settled RMB26 higher at RMB5,224/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled mostly a tad higher. The benchmark March 2007 contract rose RMB6 to settle at RMB1,482/tonne.

 

Trading remained quiet as speculators didn't see an end to the price consolidation of soy and corn futures, while more volatile metals and rubber have been attractive, said analysts.