August 10, 2007

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle up on rising cash prices

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly higher Friday, helped by rising cash prices.

 

The benchmark May 2008 soybean contract settled RMB5 higher at RMB3,532 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume declined to 329,038 lots from 343,764 lots Thursday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

Soybean prices jumped on concerns about the ongoing drought in major producing regions in the northeast.

 

The purchase price of soybeans in Haerbin city of Heilongjiang province rose to as high as RMB3,400 a tonne, compared with RMB3,100 a week ago, according to analysts.

 

Soybean prices will continue to rise in the short term as farmers will be more reluctant to sell in expectations of higher prices, said Xu Wenjie, an analyst at Tianma Futures Co.

 

Meanwhile, the market is waiting for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's August crop production and supply and demand reports, which are scheduled to be released Friday at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

 

Soymeal futures settled higher but soyoil futures settled lower.

 

The benchmark January 2008 soymeal contract settled RMB26 higher at RMB2,720/tonne, and the benchmark January 2008 soyoil contract settled RMB32 lower at RMB8,366/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled mostly lower.

 

The most heavily traded May 2008 contract settled RMB2 lower at RMB1,561/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts declined to 405,686 lots from 574,002 lots Thursday.