July 14, 2008
Monday: China soybean futures settle down on sluggish soyoil demand
China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Monday amid a sluggish demand for soybean oil.
The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled RMB60 lower at RMB4,941 a metric tonne, or down 1.2%, after trading in the RMB4,923-RMB4,972/tonne range.
Soybean processing plants are willing to sell their soy oil, but the cash demand remains sluggish, said Tu Xuan, an analyst at commodity consultancy firm Shanghai JCI.
The weakness in crude oil prices during Asia trading and good weather in the major U.S soybean growing areas also hit soybean's prices.
However, some analysts expect the market to remain in bullish trend amid the soybean growing period, as any adverse weather development may pressure the already tight supply expectations.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its July supply and demand report on soybean Friday, which is slightly favorable to the market.
The USDA forecast 2008-09 U.S. soybean ending stocks at 140 million bushels, compared to 175 million bushels in June and the average analysts' estimate of 139 million bushels.
The USDA pegged 2007-08 soybean stocks at 125 million bushels, unchanged from June. The average of analysts' pre-report estimates was 123 million bushels.
The USDA may cut its unit yield estimate further due to the delayed planting and earlier floods, which may boost prices, said Wang Xiaoguang, an analyst at Galaxy Futures.
Soy oil, palm oil and soybean meal futures mostly settled lower, but corn futures settled mostly higher.
Monday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and volume for all contracts in lots (one lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soybean Jan 2009 4,941 Dn 60 684,942
Corn Jan 2009 1,898 Up 1 444,980
Soymeal Jan 2009 3,962 Dn 48 932,612
Palm Oil Sep 2008 10,382 Dn 120 16,362
Soyoil Jan 2009 11,456 Dn 236 136,112
