August 21, 2007

 

Tuesday: China Soybean Futures Settle higher on limited supplies

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Tuesday, helped by limited soybean supplies.

 

The benchmark May 2008 soybean contract settled RMB41 higher at RMB3,591 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume rose to 314,688 lots from 242,798 lots Monday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

Although soybean futures contracts at the Chicago Board of Trade settled lower overnight, rising freight fees have kept the cost of imported soybeans at high levels, said traders.

 

Meanwhile, stocks of both imported soybeans and domestic soybeans are at low levels, supporting soybean prices.

 

Importers were reluctant to buy soybeans when they hit a record of above US$9 a bushel at the CBOT last month, coinciding with a period of low soymeal demand, resulting in insufficient stocks now, said Wei Qiang, branch manager at China International Futures Co.

 

Traders expect China to import slightly more than 2 million tonnes of soybeans a month in August and September, compared with around 3 million tonnes in each of the past few months.

 

Soymeal futures settled higher but soyoil futures settled lower.

 

The benchmark January 2008 soymeal contract settled RMB39 higher at RMB2,780/tonne, and the benchmark January 2008 soyoil contract settled RMB34 lower at RMB7,966/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled higher.

 

The benchmark May 2008 contract settled RMB11 higher at RMB1,585/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts declined to 370,070 lots from 392,682 lots Monday.