August 2, 2007

 

Thursday: China Soybean Futures Settle Down,Correcting After Sharp Rise

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly lower Thursday, following losses at Chicago Board of Trade overnight.

 

The benchmark January 2008 soybean contract settled RMB26 lower at RMB3,403 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume fell to 356,068 lots from 525,434 lots Wednesday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

"It's only a technical correction after the recent rise as the fundamentals are still positive for (domestic) soybeans," said Wang Xiaoguang, an analyst at Galaxy Futures.

 

The drought in northeast China's major soybean and corn producing regions and rising freight fees will likely support soybean prices in the short term, said analysts.

 

Wang pegged support for the benchmark January 2008 contract at RMB3,350/tonne. It traded between RMB3,382-RMB3,417/tonne during the session.

 

Soymeal futures settled lower and soyoil futures settled mostly higher.

 

The benchmark January 2008 soymeal contract settled RMB19 lower at RMB2,613/tonne, and the benchmark January 2008 soyoil contract settled RMB6 lower at RMB8,412/tonne, although most other soyoil contracts ended higher.

 

Corn futures settled mixed.

 

The benchmark January 2008 contract settled unchanged at RMB1,524/tonne.

 

Analysts said the drought in northeast China won't lift corn cash prices as the crop's acreage has increased while feedmeal demand has fallen because of a shortage of pigs.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts declined to 348,046 lots from 537,552 lots Wednesday.