August 24, 2007

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle up on rising soybean cash prices

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly higher Friday, supported by increasing soybean cash prices.

 

The benchmark May 2008 soybean contract settled RMB16 higher at RMB3,653 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume rose to 349,494 lots from 280,476 lots Thursday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

Soybean prices were higher this week on tight soybean stocks and rising freight fees.

 

The freight fee for South American soybeans reached $100/tonne recently, pushing imported soybean prices higher to around RMB3,800/tonne.

 

"Lately, profits from crushing soybeans have reached the highest level in the past few years on high soyoil and soymeal prices," said the China National Grain and Oils Information Center.

 

Traders are more reluctant to sell due to reduced soybean imports, which is a result of earlier high prices and sluggish feedmeal demand, said analysts.

 

Soymeal futures settled mostly lower, but soyoil futures settled mostly higher.

 

The benchmark May 2008 soymeal contract settled RMB20 lower at RMB2,899/tonne, and the benchmark January 2008 soyoil contract settled RMB50 higher at RMB8,026/tonne.

 

Soyoil's fundamentals are still good despite recent corrections, and soyoil futures are likely to revisit recent highs by the end of November, due to the building up of stocks to meet strong demand ahead of the New Year and Spring Festival holidays, said the China Food Network.

 

Corn futures settled lower.

 

The benchmark May 2008 contract settled down RMB9 at RMB1,581/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts declined to 454,950 lots from 526,554 lots Thursday.