July 16, 2008
Wednesday: China soybean futures settle lower after tumble on CBOT
China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Wednesday, in line with a tumble at Chicago Board of Trade overnight.
The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled RMB62, or 1.2%, lower at RMB4,901 a metric tonne after trading between RMB4,884-RMB4,920/tonne.
Trading was cautious, weighed down by the favorable weather outlook in U.S. Midwest major soybean growing areas and a big fall in crude oil prices overnight.
Argentina's Senate is slated to vote on a bill Wednesday on a sliding-scale grain export tax imposed in March; the vote is likely to end the four-month farmers' strike there - thus increasing the global supply of soybeans, analysts said.
Angry farmers reacted to higher duties on grain shipments by staging a series of crippling strikes and roadblocks that caused food shortages in cities, cut off grain exports and hampered nationwide transportation.
The benchmark contract traded within a very narrow range Wednesday, with negative sentiment leading the market, said Yu Haifeng, analyst at Tianqi Futures, in a note.
The steep slide for crude oil prices overnight kept traders on the sidelines, and high palm oil stocks at Chinese ports also pressured palm oil prices, analysts said.
Soyoil, palm oil and soymeal futures also settled lower, while corn futures settled mostly unchanged.
Wednesday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and volumes for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soybean Jan 2009 4,901 Dn 62 556,986
Corn Jan 2009 1,908 Unchanged 353,282
Soymeal Jan 2009 3,931 Dn 60 746,198
Palm Oil Sep 2008 10,350 Dn 52 17,714
Soyoil Jan 2009 11,440 Dn 56 154,020
