August 28, 2008
Thursday: China soybean futures settle down along with soymeal, soyoil
China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Thursday, along with weakness in soymeal and soyoil prices.
The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled down RMB59, or 1.4%, at RMB4,271 per metric tonne, after trading in a range of RMB4,252-RMB4,296/tonne.
Processing plants stopped raising offered prices for cash soymeal as there are few factors likely to boost prices.
Cash trading of soymeal is light with prices above RMB4,100/tonne, and weakening hog prices curbed feedmeal companies' buying interest, according to a note from Tianqi Futures.
The large amount of imported soybean arrivals expected in the coming months also added to concerns about the waning of momentum behind further increases in prices.
But analysts said the government will support grain prices during the harvest season, as only stable prices can guarantee farmers' interest in planting for the next crop year.
Meanwhile, the strength of the rebound in crude oil prices and the dollar's performance will determine the degree of any recovery in the overall commodities market, they said.
Concerns about the weather in major soybean producing areas in the U.S. and China ahead of the final harvest also prevented traders from selling heavily.
"It is a market of positive and negative factors, neither of which are strong enough (to offset the other)," said Cui Ruijuan at Guangfa Futures Brokerage.
Soyoil futures, palm oil futures and soymeal futures settled mostly lower.
Corn futures settled little changed.
Following are Thursday's settlement prices in yuan per metric tonne and volume for all contracts in lots (one lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soybean Jan 2009 4,271 Dn 59 1,003,564
Corn Jan 2009 1,746 Unchanged 198,204
Soymeal Jan 2009 3,655 Dn 42 795,096
Palm Oil Jan 2009 7,180 Dn 150 51,602
Soyoil Jan 2009 9,002 Dn 180 499,064
