August 3, 2009

 

Soy futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Monday, tracking Friday's rise on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

The benchmark May 2010 soy contract settled RMB81 a metric tonne higher at RMB3,671/tonne, or up 2.3%.

 

A big rise in CBOT's electronic trading in Asian time Monday gave a further boost to gains, said analysts.

 

Tightening old soy stocks in the U.S. and uncertainty over the size of the new U.S. crop due to the weather as well as flush liquidity in the market also helped push prices higher.

 

But some profit-taking drove the contracts off their session highs as traders and speculators cashed in.

 

"If there's a big fall in prices this week, it could be an opportunity for buyers, as the long-term outlook for inflation means it's safe to buy in," said Li Lei, an analyst with China National Cereals Trade Corp., adding the possibility of an unfavorable weather outlook for major growing areas in the U.S. could also be a buying excuse for speculators.

 

Trading volume for all soy contracts rose to 335,976 lots from 239,986 lots Friday.

 

Open interest fell 46,842 lots to 285,132 lots.

 

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

 

The overall rebound in commodities markets will improve the market's expectations for demand, supporting a strong rebound in oilseeds Monday, said Tianqi Futures in a note.

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       3,671        Up   81        335,976

Corn            May 2010        1,672        Up   16        160,334

Soymeal       May 2010       3,005        Up   89      2,231,782

Palm Oil       Jan 2010         6,020        Up  124        875,130

Soyoil          May 2010        7,504        Up  110     1,032,246