August 3, 2007

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle higher on CBOT gains

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Friday, following gains on the Chicago Board of Trade overnight.

 

The benchmark January 2008 soybean contract settled RMB31 higher at RMB3,434 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume rose to 378,396 lots from 356,068 lots Thursday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

Analysts said China's strong demand for agricultural products helped to support futures prices in the long run.

 

"The current prices of agricultural products are too low," despite the rising inflation in recent months, said Liu Qin, a deputy manager of the market development department at Sun Futures Co. in Hunan province.

 

In the first half, China's consumer price index rose 3.2% from a year earlier, driven by high food prices, exceeding the government's full-year target for a less than 3% rise. In June, China's CPI rose 4.4% from a year earlier.

 

Soymeal futures settled higher but soyoil futures settled mostly lower.

 

The benchmark January 2008 soymeal contract settled RMB23 higher at RMB2,636/tonne, but the benchmark January 2008 soyoil contract settled RMB32 lower at RMB8,380/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled higher.

 

The benchmark January 2008 contract settled RMB20 higher at RMB1,544/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts rose to 911,446 lots from 348,046 lots Thursday.