August 4, 2006

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle higher, upward correction

 

 

Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly higher on an upward correction, an analyst said.

 

The benchmark September contract settled RMB1 higher at RMB2,416/tonne, after trading between RMB2,405 and RMB2,429/tonne.

 

Total trading volume fell to 62,482 lots from 73,062 lots Thursday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

"Soybean futures prices rose on an upward correction. In addition, the market expects the weekly crop progress report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture next Monday to be poor, lending some support to soybean futures," said Tian Lianfeng, an analyst at Tianma Futures Co.

 

No. 2 soybean contracts, which are encouraged to be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, settled mostly lower.

 

The benchmark September contract settled at RMB2,450/tonne, up RMB4.

 

Soymeal futures settled higher. The most active January 2007 soymeal contract rose RMB13 to settle at RMB2,284/tonne, after trading between RMB2,264 and RMB2,296/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for all soymeal contracts rose to 347,622 lots from 276,988 lots Thursday.

 

"Soymeal futures staged a relatively strong rebound, in line with soybean futures. But it did not indicate a full-blown recovery as soymeal's fundamentals remained week," Tian said.

 

Soyoil futures settled mostly down. The benchmark November 2006 soyoil contract dropped RMB36 to settle at RMB5,557/tonne.

 

"Soyoil futures prices dropped, pressured by a slide in international crude oil prices," Tian added.

 

Corn futures settled higher. The most widely held May 2007 contract settled at RMB1,405/tonne, up RMB2.

 

"Corn futures jumped on an upward correction as well, following days of declines. However, the rebound may not last for long as spot market prices are still low," Tian said.

 

Total trading volume for corn fell to 269,740 lots from 408,652 lots Thursday.