July 17, 2006

 

Monday: China soybean futures settle lower on CBOT losses

 

 

Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Monday, following electronic trading losses on the Chicago Board of Trade during Asian hours, analysts said.

 

The benchmark September contract fell RMB3 to settle at RMB2,483 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,476 and RMB2,495/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for all soybean contracts fell to 26,280 lots from 59,288 lots Friday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

"Trading is relatively quiet, which shows that most of speculators are still watching and are reluctant to put capital in soybean futures," said Gao Yanrong, an analyst at Dalu Futures Co.

 

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

 

The benchmark September contract settled at RMB2,507/tonne, up RMB1.

 

Soymeal futures also settled mostly lower. The benchmark November 2006 soymeal contract fell RMB10 to settle at RMB2,292/tonne, after trading between RMB2,285 and RMB2,300/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for all soymeal contracts rose to 218,106 lots from 210,586 lots Friday.

 

"Soymeal futures are more sensitive to the fluctuations of CBOT prices than soybean futures, as most of soymeal is made of imported soybeans," Ding Haijiang, an analyst at Nanhua Futures Co.

 

Soyoil futures settled mostly higher. The most active September 2006 soyoil contract rose RMB2 to settle at RMB5,242/tonne. "The demand for soyoil remained stable, which lent support to soyoil futures," Gao said.

 

Corn futures settled higher. The most widely held March 2007 contract settled at RMB1,426/tonne, up RMB7.

 

"Corn futures performed much stronger, compared with soybean futures. It's a technical rebound after two days of declines," Gao added.

 

Total trading volume for corn contracts rose to 443,124 lots from 343,186 lots Friday.