July 19, 2006

 

Wednesday: China soybean futures settle lower following CBOT losses

 

 

Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Wednesday, weighed down by slight losses on the Chicago Board of Trade, an analyst said.

 

The benchmark September contract settled unchanged at RMB2,470 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,467 and RMB2,475/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for all soybean contracts rose to 19,928 lots from 27,144 lots Tuesday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

"Soybean futures prices continued to fall recently, there is no space for a large decline in the near future," 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 lower.

 

The benchmark September contract settled at RMB2,491/tonne, down RMB10.

 

Soymeal futures settled mostly lower. The benchmark November 2006 soymeal contract fell RMB4 to settle at RMB2,272/tonne, after trading between RMB2,268 and RMB2,283/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for all soymeal contracts fell to 198,166 lots from 210,536 lots Tuesday.

 

"Soymeal futures prices dropped in line with soybeans, pressured by weak demand and overstocking," said Gao.

 

Soyoil futures settled mostly higher. The most active September 2006 soyoil contract rose RMB3 to settle at RMB5,237/tonne.

 

"Crushers cut the production of soymeal due to the overstocking and as a result, the output of soyoil also decreased, which lent support to soyoil futures," Gao added.

 

Corn futures settled lower. The most widely held March 2007 contract settled at RMB1,421/tonne, down RMB4.

 

"Current spot market corn prices are holding at a pretty high level, which is weighing on corn futures prices. In addition, demand for corn is not as strong as expected this year," Gao said.

 

Total trading volume for corn contracts fell to 310,300 lots from 364,110 lots Tuesday.