August 20, 2007

 

Monday: China soybean futures settle up on CBOT; buying after oversold

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Monday, helped by Friday's gains on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

The benchmark May 2008 soybean contract settled RMB32 higher at RMB3,550 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume declined to 242,798 lots from 544,210 lots Friday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

Traders said domestic futures products overreacted to the impact of the current global credit squeeze in previous sessions.

 

"The overselling has attracted some fund buying," said Shanghai JCI, a commodities consultancy.

 

An analyst at the company said U.S. benchmark soybean contracts are unlikely to reach previous highs of above $9 a bushel as the harvest season nears, with the November contract likely consolidating between $8-$8.50/bushel in the near term.

 

Soymeal futures and soyoil futures settled mostly higher.

 

The benchmark January 2008 soymeal contract settled RMB30 higher at RMB2,741/tonne, and the benchmark January 2008 soyoil contract settled RMB96 higher at RMB8,000/tonne.

 

High freight fees will also help support soy and soy products prices, and analysts expect soybean imports to be above 2 million tonnes in August and September respectively, despite ongoing slow demand for soymeal as feedmeal, due to improved feedmeal demand from the poultry sector.

 

Corn futures settled higher.

 

The benchmark May 2008 contract settled RMB18 higher at RMB1,574/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts declined to 392,682 lots from 617,776 lots Friday.