July 11, 2007

 

Wednesday: China soybean futures settle up; follow CBOT gains

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Tuesday after their counterparts at the Chicago Board of Trade set new record highs again overnight.

 

The benchmark January 2008 soybean contract settled RMB49 higher at RMB3,328 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume rose to 292,186 lots from 126,554 lots Tuesday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rallied to new contract highs Tuesday on speculative buying associated with bullish weather outlooks and technical momentum.

 

July soybeans settled 19 cents higher at $8.89 while November soybeans finished 18 1/2 cents higher at $9.20 1/2.

 

However, domestic soybean and soymeal passively follow overseas gains, said traders.

 

"The benchmark January 2008 contract is unlikely to break through the RMB3,200-RMB3,400 range in the short term due to sluggish soymeal demand," said Zeng Xuezhou, a trader at Beite Futures Co.

 

Government concerns about high food prices are also curbing the potential for further rises of agricultural products, he added.

 

Soymeal futures and soyoil futures settled mostly higher, following the gains of soybean.

 

The benchmark January 2008 soymeal contract settled RMB50 higher at RMB 2,616/tonne, while the benchmark September 2007 soyoil contract settled RMB66 higher at RMB8,040/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled lower.

 

The benchmark January 2008 contract settled RMB17 lower at RMB1,499/tonne.

 

Corn futures prices haven't reached the bottom yet as cash prices could fall further, said Wang Xiaohui, head of the China National Grain and Oils Information Center's market monitoring department.

 

The trading volume for all corn contracts rose to 606,374 lots from 603,142 lots Tuesday.