July 20, 2009

Soy futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Monday, in line with Friday's big rise on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

The benchmark May 2010 soy contract settled RMB51 a metric tonne higher at RMB3,513/tonne, up 1.5%.

 

A continued rebound in crude oil and metals as well as some favorable economic news helped stir up buying interest in soy.

 

The market isn't concerned over government sales of soy anymore, as it's unlikely to have much impact on the market, said a grain official at a state-owned warehouse. The schedule for the sales was announced last week.

 

The high government auction prices are unlikely to attract much volume, said market participants.

 

However, some traders were taking profits, as the market still lacks consistent factors that can drive up prices for a long time.

 

"It's a bit strange...There isn't any reason (to support such a big rise), (and) generally speaking, the unfavorable factors are more (than favorable reasons)," said a local oil trader.

 

Trading volume for all soy contracts declined to 147,970 lots from 180,146 lots Friday.

 

Open interest fell 5,046 lots to 354,852 lots.

 

Corn futures, soymeal futures, palm oil futures and soyoil futures all settled higher.

 

Monday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne for benchmark contracts and volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):

               

Contract        Settlement      Price         Change        Volume

Soy               May 2010       3,513        Up   51         147,970

Corn             Jan 2010        1,617         Up    5           32,064

Soymeal        Jan 2010       2,834         Up   57      1,533,866

Palm Oil        Jan 2010        5,808         Up   88        603,076

Soyoil           Jan 2010        7,164         Up  102       703,222