July 6, 2006

 

Thursday: China soybean futures settle down on weak demand, CBOT

 

 

Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly lower Thursday on weak domestic demand and overnight losses in Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures, analysts said.

 

The benchmark September contract fell RMB14 to settle at RMB2,568 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,565 and RMB2,575/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for all soybean contracts fell to 8,616 lots from 26,158 lots Wednesday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

"Demand from the downstream industry continues to be sluggish in China, therefore we remain even weaker than CBOT," said Ding Haijiang, an analyst with Nanhua Futures Co.

 

"Trading was pretty quiet, as speculators don't expect a rebound in the near future." Ding added.

 

"Meanwhile, weather forecasts in the U.S. are putting further pressure on soybean futures," he said.

 

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

 

The benchmark September contract was unchanged at RMB2,515/tonne.

 

Soymeal futures settled lower, in line with soybean futures.

 

The benchmark November 2006 soymeal contract fell RMB14 to settle at RMB2,301/tonne, after trading between RMB2,293 and RMB2,307/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for all soymeal contracts fell to 154,496 lots from 251,362 lots Wednesday.

 

Soyoil futures settled mostly higher, reflecting a decline in soyoil imports in recent months and market expectations that soyoil could be used to produce biomass fuel. The most widely held September 2006 soyoil contract settled RMB2 higher at RMB5,192/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled lower, pressured by losses in soybeans.

 

The most widely held March 2007 contract settled at RMB1,458/tonne, down RMB4.

 

Total trading volume for all corn contracts fell to 368,970 lots from 564,848 lots.